Word of the Day

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

objurgate

\OB-juhr-gayt\ , transitive verb;

To express strong disapproval of; to criticize severely.

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Quotes:

I objurgate the centipede,
A bug we do not really need.

-- Ogden Nash, "The Centipede",

The act about to be objurgated here calls on the Food and Drug Administration to oversee a broad revision of food labeling.

-- Daniel Seligman, "Federal Food Follies", Fortune, July 1, 1991

Origin:

Objurgate comes from the past participle of Latin from objurgare, "to scold, to blame," from ob-, "against" + jurgare, "to dispute, to quarrel, to sue at law," from jus, jur-, "law" + -igare (from agere, "to lead").