vituperate

American  

[vahy-too-puh-reyt, -tyoo-, vi-] / vaɪˈtu pəˌreɪt, -ˈtju-, vɪ- /

verb (used with object)

vituperated, vituperating

1. to address with harsh or abusive language; revile.

   Synonyms:

   berate, vilify, censure

   Antonyms:

   commend, praise

---

vituperate British  

/ vɪˈtjuːpəˌreɪt /

verb

1. to berate or rail (against) abusively; revile

---

Other Word Forms

• vituperator
  noun
• unvituperated
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of vituperate

First recorded in 1535–45; from Latin vituperātus (past participle of vituperāre “to spoil, blame”), equivalent to vituperā(re) ( vitu-, variant stem of vitium “defect, blemish, vice” + -perāre, combining form of parāre “to furnish, provide”; see prepare) + -tus past participle suffix; see -ate ¹

Explanation

To vituperate is to speak or write in an extremely negative way about someone. Just as vituperation consists of negative, explosive, malicious outbursts, to vituperate is to communicate in this way. Negative political ads vituperate against opponents. When you insult someone and swear at them, you vituperate. People with a short temper tend to vituperate often — it's similar to railing, vilifying, and reviling. The root word is the Latin vituperationem, "blame or censuring," from vitium, "fault or defect."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vituperate vituperated vituperating

Mr. Youngkin’s comment about Mr. Vance more or less obliges him not to vituperate the vice president in the usual way of presidential primaries.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026

They vituperate even though what she and Sanders have said is, well, true.

From The Guardian ● Dec. 20, 2017

Over the next dozen years, he would vituperate again and again against Roosevelt's seemingly mystical ability to direct the national conversation.

From Salon ● Apr. 10, 2011

And may I add a word of deep appreciation for the highly intelligent letter of Mr. Frank Vincent Waddy, on the subject of our vituperate critic, Cyril D. H. G. Dillington-Dowse.

From Time Magazine Archive

It was his delight to ridicule and vituperate the Christ Church deans,—and he might have called the History of Clarendon, “patch-work,” from some imperfect knowledge picked up at the Oxford press.

From Amenities of Literature Consisting of Sketches and Characters of English Literature by Isaac Disraeli

Nonetheless his St. Denis working class constituents have twice more re-elected him although he was opposed and vituperated by Communist candidates.

From Time Magazine Archive

Last time we met during the Balkan war I had vituperated him about the cutting off of noses.

From Twenty Years Of Balkan Tangle by M. E. (Mary Edith) Durham

It is subjected to every kind of sacrilegious indignity, vituperated as a usurper and an “accident,” struck with rotten eggs and dead cats, and undergoes the meanest misrepresentation.

From The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Volume 1 by Ambrose Bierce

At intervals, the captain and anchor of the cadets uttered exclamations of encouragement to his team, or vituperated at the other.

From Witch Winnie's Mystery, or The Old Oak Cabinet The Story of a King's Daughter by Elizabeth W. (Elizabeth Williams) Champney

He said a word of sympathy for the universally vituperated Jacobins of the Mountain, because through thick veils of national prejudice and misrepresentation, he felt the impossibility of the Gironde.

From The Victorian Age in Literature by G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton

Bolton was rubbing his bruises and abrasions, and vituperating everything, from the conduct of the war to the steepness of Kentucky mountains.

From The Red Acorn by John McElroy

Now, this class of individuals entertain a mortal hatred for Lavengro and its writer, and never lose an opportunity of vituperating both. 

From The Romany Rye by George Henry Borrow

First the guides commenced vituperating the long haired oxen that were wandering beyond the beaten path. 

From Travels in Tartary, Thibet, and China During the years 1844-5-6 Volume 2 by Évariste Régis Huc

As Nissr passed over the extraordinary Hejaz Railway, indifferent to the mob of frenzied, vituperating pilgrims, the chief peered far ahead for his first sight of Mecca, the Forbidden.

From The Flying Legion by George Allan England

He disappeared down the basement steps, and in another minute a harsh voice apparently vituperating him rose up, and when he rejoined his comrade his face was redder than ever.

From Delilah of the Snows by Harold Bindloss