Definition of Invective

1. Noun. Abusive or venomous language used to express blame or censure or bitter deep-seated ill will.

Exact synonyms: Vitriol, Vituperation
Generic synonyms: Abuse, Contumely, Insult, Revilement, Vilification
Derivative terms: Vitriolic, Vituperate

Definition of Invective

1. a. Characterized by invection; critical; denunciatory; satirical; abusive; railing.

2. n. An expression which inveighs or rails against a person; a severe or violent censure or reproach; something uttered or written, intended to cast opprobrium, censure, or reproach on another; a harsh or reproachful accusation; -- followed by against, having reference to the person or thing affected; as, an invective against tyranny.

Definition of Invective

1. Noun. An expression which inveighs or rails against a person. ¹

2. Noun. A severe or violent censure or reproach. ¹

3. Noun. Something spoken or written, intended to cast opprobrium, censure, or reproach on another. ¹

4. Noun. A harsh or reproachful accusation. ¹

5. Adjective. Characterized by invection or railing. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Invective

1. [n -S]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Invective

invasive species
invasively
invasiveness
invasivenesses
invasives
invasivity
inveagle
inveagled
inveagles
invecked
invect
invected
invecting
invection
invections
invective (current term)
invectively
invectiveness
invectivenesses
invectives
invects
inveigh
inveighed
inveigher
inveighers
inveighing
inveighs
inveigle
inveigled
inveiglement

Literary usage of Invective

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Argumentation and Debating by William Trufant Foster (1917)
"invective. invective delights both the weak-minded speaker and the weak-minded hearer, ... There are men, it is true, who advocate the use of invective. ..."

2. Books in General: By Solomon Eagle [pseud.] by John Collings Squire (1920)
"invective THIS habit of rounded invective is not one to be cultivated. ... There is, I think, room for an Anthology of British invective, in prose and verse ..."

3. Irish Literature by Justin McCarthy, Maurice Francis Egan, Charles Welsh, Douglas Hyde, Gregory, James Jeffrey Roche (1904)
"... and he is now scarcely remembered except as an object of a powerful invective in Ireland and as an example of a deplorable failure in England. ..."

4. Political Eloquence in Greece: Demosthenes. With Extracts from His Orations by Léon Brédif (1881)
"It would be interesting, but foreign to our subject, to follow the thread of invective at Rome under its diverse forms; ... This persistence of invective ..."

5. Southey's Common-place Book by Robert Southey (1849)
"[invective against Count Julian. ... concludes a chapter of lamentations with this invective against Count Julian :—" Y este que es diablo baptizado y de ..."

6. The Cambridge History of English Literature by Adolphus William Ward, Alfred Rayney Waller (1913)
"The growing protest against the immorality of the drama, vigorously expressed in Jeremy Collier's invective, A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness ..."

7. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon (1887)
"-résistance ; their satirical wit degenerated into sharp and angry invectives ; and, from the subordinate powers of government, the invective» of the people ..."

8. Argumentation and Debating by William Trufant Foster (1917)
"invective. invective delights both the weak-minded speaker and the weak-minded hearer, ... There are men, it is true, who advocate the use of invective. ..."

9. Books in General: By Solomon Eagle [pseud.] by John Collings Squire (1920)
"invective THIS habit of rounded invective is not one to be cultivated. ... There is, I think, room for an Anthology of British invective, in prose and verse ..."

10. Irish Literature by Justin McCarthy, Maurice Francis Egan, Charles Welsh, Douglas Hyde, Gregory, James Jeffrey Roche (1904)
"... and he is now scarcely remembered except as an object of a powerful invective in Ireland and as an example of a deplorable failure in England. ..."

11. Political Eloquence in Greece: Demosthenes. With Extracts from His Orations by Léon Brédif (1881)
"It would be interesting, but foreign to our subject, to follow the thread of invective at Rome under its diverse forms; ... This persistence of invective ..."

12. Southey's Common-place Book by Robert Southey (1849)
"[invective against Count Julian. ... concludes a chapter of lamentations with this invective against Count Julian :—" Y este que es diablo baptizado y de ..."

13. The Cambridge History of English Literature by Adolphus William Ward, Alfred Rayney Waller (1913)
"The growing protest against the immorality of the drama, vigorously expressed in Jeremy Collier's invective, A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness ..."

14. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon (1887)
"-résistance ; their satirical wit degenerated into sharp and angry invectives ; and, from the subordinate powers of government, the invective» of the people ..."

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