Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of the orations of Demosthenes against Philip of Macedon in the fourth century B.C.
- n. Any of the orations of Cicero against Antony in 44 B.C.
- n. A verbal denunciation characterized by harsh, often insulting language; a tirade.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. One of a series of orations delivered, in the fourth century b. c., by the Athenian orator Demosthenes, against Philip, king of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, in which the orator proclaims the imminent jeopardy of Athenian liberty, and seeks to arouse his fellow-citizens to a sense of their danger and to stimulate them to timely action against the growing power of Macedon.
- n. Hence [lowercase] Any discourse or declamation full of acrimonious invective. The orations of Cicero against Mark Antony are called philippics.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Any one of the series of famous orations of Demosthenes, the Grecian orator, denouncing Philip, king of Macedon.
- n. Hence: Any discourse or declamation abounding in acrimonious invective.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a speech of violent denunciation
Examples
“Nothing can exceed the taste and beauty of those for the Manilian law, for Marcellus, for Ligarius, for Archias, and the ninth Philippic, which is principally in praise of Servius”
“It was on this occasion that Demosthenes delivered his second "Philippic" (344 B.C.), addressing himself principally to the Athenian sympathizers with”
“In his first "Philippic" Demosthenes tried to rouse his countrymen to energetic measures against this formidable enemy; but his warnings and exhortations produced little effect, for the Athenians were no longer distinguished by the same spirit of enterprise which had characterized them in the days of their supremacy.”
A Smaller history of Greece From the earliest times to the Roman conquest
“Anyone can knock out a simple, desultory Philippic, but can they make it whipsmart funny?”
“It's been replayed endlessly, with Patrick Buchanan uttering a Philippic against it last night on MSNBC for several minutes.”
“Cicero, in the second Philippic calls Antonius a catamite; but in”
“His first entering into public business was much about the time of the Phocian war, as himself affirms, and may be collected from his Philippic orations.”
“Mrs Mason said only that one word, but Demosthenes could not have put more vituperation into a whole Philippic; and yet, when the landlady came in to clear the table, Mrs Mason contrived to be at her loftiest.”
Hornblower And The Hotspur
“Sihler's Cicero's Second Philippic. 157 pages 1.00”
“It might perhaps heighten the effect of the picture, if I were to describe the appearance of Mr. Gladstone during the delivery of this fierce Philippic, -- the contracted brow, the compressed lip, the uneasy motion from side to side, and all the other customary manifestations of anger, mortification, and conscious defeat.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘Philippic’.
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Cicero
Works, ideas, friends, Romans, countrymen, &c.
Cicero, Marcus Tullius Ci..., Tully, Antikythera mecha..., lorem ipsum, chickpea, cicer, Terentia, Tullia, Publilia, Atticus, Marcus Tullius Ci... and 20 more...
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