tirade

American  

[tahy-reyd, tahy-reyd] / ˈtaɪ reɪd, taɪˈreɪd /

noun

1. a prolonged outburst of bitter, outspoken denunciation.

   a tirade against smoking.

2. a long, vehement speech.

   a tirade in the Senate.

   Synonyms:

   diatribe, harangue

3. a passage dealing with a single theme or idea, as in poetry.

   the stately tirades of Corneille.

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tirade British  

/ taɪˈreɪd /

noun

1. a long angry speech or denunciation

2. rare prosody a speech or passage dealing with a single theme

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Etymology

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

Example Sentences

As much as Bellamy might have mellowed as a coach, his half-time tirade demonstrated that his fiery temper is still in there somewhere.

From BBC

Simon unleashed a tirade at Coach executive Todd Kahn during their first meeting in the first decade of the 2000s, after the handbag maker tried to renege on deals to open stores in Simon malls.

From The Wall Street Journal

Sleepiness eventually came over all of them, and without needing to announce it, they all lay close to the fire, close to one another, and slumbered peacefully while the wind’s angry tirade lessened.

From Literature

A disheveled man sick of endless waiting launched into an eloquent tirade ending with Samuel Beckett -- "You know what happened in the story of Godot? He never came."

From Barron's

In the years since it aired, Banks’ infamous tirade, “I was rooting for you! We were all rooting for you!”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• denunciation
• diatribe
• harangue
• invective
• ranting
• screed
• sermon