invective

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See also: invectivé

English

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Etymology

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From Middle French invective, from Medieval Latin invectiva (abusive speech), from Latin invectīvus, from invectus, perfect passive participle of invehō (bring in), from in- + vehō (carry). See vehicle, and compare with inveigh.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ɪnˈvɛktɪv/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪv
  • Rhymes: -ɛktɪv

Noun

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invective (countable and uncountable, plural invectives)

  1. An expression which inveighs or rails against a person.
  2. A severe or violent censure or reproach.
  3. Something spoken or written, intended to cast shame, disgrace, censure, or reproach on another.
    • 1963, C.L.R. James, The Black Jacobins, 2nd Revised edition, page 24:
      And wordy attacks against slavery drew sneers from observers which were not altogether undeserved. The authors were compared to doctors who offered to a patient nothing more than invectives against the disease which consumed him.
    • 2013 September 14, Jane Shilling, “The Golden Thread: the Story of Writing, by Ewan Clayton, review [print edition: Illuminating language]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review)[1], page R28:
      [A] savage passage of 14th-century invective about the text-obsessed nerdiness of the Florentine bibliophile and friend of Petrarch, Niccolò Niccoli ...
  4. A harsh or reproachful accusation.
    Politics can raise invective to a low art.

Translations

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Adjective

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invective (comparative more invective, superlative most invective)

  1. Characterized by invection or railing.
    Tom's speeches became diatribes — each more invective than the last.

Synonyms

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Translations

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French

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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invective f (plural invectives)

  1. invective

Verb

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invective

  1. inflection of invectiver:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

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Portuguese

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Verb

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invective

  1. inflection of invectivar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative