Word of the Day

Sunday, October 17, 1999

vituperate

\vy-TOO-puh-rate, -TYOO-, vi-\ , verb;

To find fault with; to scold; to overwhelm with wordy abuse; to censure severely or abusively; to rate.

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Quotes:

There are moments in life when true invective is called for, when it becomes an absolute necessity, out of a deep sense of justice, to denounce, mock, vituperate, lash out, in the strongest possible language.

-- Charles Simic, quoted in "The argument culture", Irish Times, December 17, 1998

The incensed priests...continued to raise their voices, vituperating each other in bad Latin.

-- Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

Origin:

Vituperate comes from Latin vitupero, vituperare, to scold, blame, censure.