tirade

[tahy-reyd, tahy-reyd]

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noun

a prolonged outburst of bitter, outspoken denunciation: a tirade against smoking.
a long, vehement speech: a tirade in the Senate.
a passage dealing with a single theme or idea, as in poetry: the stately tirades of Corneille.

Origin of tirade

1795–1805; < French: literally, a stretch, (continuous) pulling < Italian tirata, noun use of feminine of tirato, past participle of tirare to draw, pull, fire (a shot), of obscure origin

Synonyms for tirade

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2. harangue, diatribe.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for tirade

ranting, invective, denunciation, diatribe, harangue, sermon, screed, revilement, philippic, jeremiad, condemnation, censure, malediction, fulmination, anger, lecture, tongue-lashing, vituperation, dispute, berating

Examples from the Web for tirade

Contemporary Examples of tirade

In December, he unleashed a tirade against them, saying they had “lost all credibility.”
Tea Party Takes on Boehner
Patricia Murphy
February 19, 2014
Turned into a hashtag in a late-night Twitter tirade, “Do What U Want,” then, is not just a good pop song.
Lady Gaga and R. Kelly’s ‘Do What U Want’ Is Pure Pop Heaven
Kevin Fallon
October 21, 2013
The Twitter tirade ended when Schwyzer said he was giving his laptop to his family and staying offline.
Porn Professor Hugo Schwyzer Comes Clean About His Twitter Meltdown and Life as a Fraud
Richard Abowitz
August 12, 2013
Bynes responded to the insinuations—that she was not well or not being her authentic self—with a tirade.
My Search for Amanda Bynes … and Why I’m Calling It Off
Kevin Fallon
May 29, 2013
This is not a tirade against divorce or against the working mother.
Why I Choose to Be Child-Free: Readers Share Their Stories
Harry Siegel
February 27, 2013

Historical Examples of tirade

Of all that tirade, but one sentence had remained as if corroded into the mind of Carrier.
The Historical Nights' Entertainment
Rafael Sabatini
I had listened in a sort of fascination to that tirade of venomous mockery.
The Strolling Saint
Raphael Sabatini
The deputy followed me, indulging in a tirade of most abusive language.
The Prison Chaplaincy, And Its Experiences
Hosea Quinby
It was quite possible, for the other had not paused a moment in her tirade.
The Golden Woman
Ridgwell Cullum
Where's the quiet to come from, I ask you, after such a tirade of abuse as that?'
Lord Kilgobbin
Charles Lever

British Dictionary definitions for tirade

tirade

noun

a long angry speech or denunciation
prosody rare a speech or passage dealing with a single theme

Word Origin for tirade

C19: from French, literally: a pulling, from Italian tirata, from tirare to pull, of uncertain origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for tirade

1801, "a 'volley of words,' " from French tirade "speech, volley, shot, continuation, drawing out" (16c.), from tirer "draw out, endure, suffer," or the French word is perhaps from cognate Italian tirata "a volley," from past participle of tirare "to draw." The whole Romanic word group is of uncertain origin; some think it is a shortening of the source of Old French martirer "endure martyrdom" (see martyr).