invective
See also: invectivé
English edit
Etymology edit
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 edit
Noun edit
invective (countable and uncountable, plural invectives)
- An expression which inveighs or rails against a person.
- A severe or violent censure or reproach.
- 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 ...
- A harsh or reproachful accusation.
- Politics can raise invective to a low art.
Translations edit
something spoken or written, intended to cast shame, disgrace, censure, or reproach on another
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Adjective edit
invective (comparative more invective, superlative most invective)
- Characterized by invection or railing.
- Tom's speeches became diatribes — each more invective than the last.
Synonyms edit
- (characterized by invection or railing): abusive, critical, denunciatory, satirical, vitriolic, vituperative
Translations edit
French edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
invective f (plural invectives)
Verb edit
invective
- inflection of invectiver:
Further reading edit
- “invective”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Portuguese edit
Verb edit
invective
- inflection of invectivar: