vituperative
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of vituperative
First recorded in 1720–30; vituperate + -ive
Explanation
Use the adjective vituperative to describe criticism that's so sharp it hurts. A vituperative review of a movie would make the director bitter for months. To correctly pronounce vituperative, remember that the first vowel sound is the long i sound, and the second syllable is accented: "vie-TOO-per-uh-tive." Being vituperative takes criticism to the next level. Vituperative criticism is harsh, scathing, even abusive. If a review or assessment is vituperative, it doesn't say "try harder next time." Instead it gives the sense of "go away and never come back."
Vocabulary lists containing vituperative
The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 4
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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30 GRE Words Beginning with "T" "U" "V" and "W"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The initiative text is replete with vituperative language attacking personal injury lawyers as a class.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 16, 2026
Cooper had a more adventurous career than his vituperative “château years” might suggest.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 10, 2025
It led to a vituperative Senate Judiciary hearing at which senators from both parties called Ticketmaster and its corporate parent, Live Nation Entertainment, a monopoly.
From New York Times • Apr. 7, 2023
Despite his vituperative outbursts and assaults in the media, the apprentice can't entirely shake that Lasso-nurtured lightness within.
From Salon • Mar. 15, 2023
When Calvin stopped replying to his letters, Servetus, based in Vienna, continued to send a stream of increasingly vituperative correspondence.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
