Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Denunciatory or abusive language; vituperation.
- n. Denunciatory or abusive expression or discourse.
- adj. Of, relating to, or characterized by denunciatory or abusive language.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Censoriously abusive; vituperative; denunciatory.
- n. Vehement denunciation; an utterance of violent censure or reproach; also, a railing accusation; vituperation.
- n. Synonyms Abuse, Invective (see abuse); Satire, Pasquinade, etc. (see lampoon); philippic, objurgation, reproach, railing, diatribe.
Wiktionary
- n. An expression which inveighs or rails against a person.
- n. A severe or violent censure or reproach.
- n. Something spoken or written, intended to cast opprobrium, censure, or reproach on another.
- n. A harsh or reproachful accusation.
- adj. Characterized by invection or railing.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Characterized by invection; critical; denunciatory; satirical; abusive; railing.
- n. An expression which inveighs or rails against a person; a severe or violent censure or reproach; something uttered or written, intended to cast opprobrium, censure, or reproach on another; a harsh or reproachful accusation; -- followed by against, having reference to the person or thing affected.
WordNet 3.0
- n. abusive or venomous language used to express blame or censure or bitter deep-seated ill will
Etymologies
- From Middle English invectif, denunciatory, from Old French, from Late Latin invectīvus, reproachful, abusive, from Latin invectus, past participle of invehī, to inveigh against; see inveigh.
Examples
“Sure, sometimes the invective is a tad over the top, but I think the trolls just go away from that thinking they really got someone wound up and spinning.”
“The invective is "some of the worst I've ever seen," Superintendent Dennis Carlson said.”
The Huffington Post: Suicide Surge: Schools Confront Anti-Gay Bullying
“By 19th-c. standards our political invective is embarrassingly lame.”
“Personal abuse and other invective is childish and an indication of lack of maturity and lack of judgement.”
“The same afternoon we talked also about the process of book reviewing, whether or not the use of insult and/or invective is ever justified and if so, when.”
“Truly ugly, invective is directed at Obama too, but as the winner it is incumbent on him to reach out to Clinton supporters.”
Angry Clinton supporters tell party leaders: 'Let's go McCain!'
“Finally, while invective is common in the political arena, Stefan's wife and personal life are clearly out of bounds, and especially with respect to vicious personal and racist remarks.”
Sound Politics: Michael Hood: Seattle's most chronically wrong journalist
“I wrote earlier that one of the best uses of invective is to frame wit - and that's where I think the article is deficient.”
“However the target for invective is the general public.”
“I'll be the first to admit that invective is not the highest form of humour (but neither's satire, let's be honest), but it can be a great launch-vehicle for irony, wit and satire.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘invective’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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SAT Words
But only the ones that I don't already know.
abase, abash, abominate, abstruse, acclivity, accolade, accost, adroit, adulate, adulterate, adumbrate, affray and 241 more...
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cicatrix
scar tissue
minatory, naira, Cluniac, embracive, prolix, hierophant, timorous, adduce, veracious, dysphoric, sang-froid, vitiate and 414 more...
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Words about Words
words to describe language
invective, eloquent, laconic, solecism, calque, cognate, bombastic, verbose, anthimeria, magniloquent, amphigory, morpheme
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Types of Humor
dry wit, irony, sarcasm, black humor, blue humor, gallows humor, parody, Burlesque, satire, repartee, wit, deadpan and 12 more...
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xulilux's list
leviathan, destitute, iapetus, caesura, ineffable, eschew, phosphene, fungible, antediluvian, nomenclature, mottle, europa and 84 more...
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Terms for AP Lit
This list is designed to be a reference for my AP Lit. students
symbolism, archetype, polysyndeton, ellipsis, anaphora, diction, asyndeton, chiasmus, syntax, oxymoron, logos, fallacy and 28 more...
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New to Me
anodyne, salient, ecumenical, salubrious, invective, incendiary, colophon, stola, druthers, syllogism
leopardann [noun: Abusive Language, Vituperation, Abusive Expression or Discourse.
adjective: Of, relating to, or characterized by Denunciatory or Abusive Language.] Jan 12, 2010