Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To rebuke or criticize harshly or abusively; berate. See Synonyms at scold.
- v. To use harshly abusive language; rail.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To address abusive language to; find fault with abusively; abuse verbally; rate; objurgate.
- Synonyms To revile. vilify, berate, upbraid, rail at. The person or creature vituperated is directly addressed.
Wiktionary
- v. transitive To criticize in a harsh or abusive manner; to overwhelm with wordy abuse; to censure severely or abusively; to rate.
- v. intransitive To use harsh or abusive wording.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To find fault with; to scold; to overwhelm with wordy abuse; to censure severely or abusively; to rate.
WordNet 3.0
- v. spread negative information about
Etymologies
- From Latin vituperatum, past participle of vituperare ("to blame, censure"), from vitium ("fault, defect") + parare ("to furnish, provide, contrive"). (Wiktionary)
- Latin vituperāre, vituperāt-. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“There are moments," writes poet Charles Simic in Harper's, "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.”
“Instead of preaching to the choir, challenge them, educate them, de-vituperate them.”
Report: Edwards Thinks Hillary Has Courted Him More Effectively
“Put it this way: to the extent that they exist now, the “real Republicans” vituperate them and drive them off.”
“Ambassador Spring Rice, nearing sixty and now as bald as his uncle, came daily to vituperate against his new rival, Lord Northcliffe, who had been sent to coordinate the British war effort in the United States.”
“You are aware, of course, that because we have compulsory voting that the so-called "swinging voters" that you vituperate are usually only voting to avoid being fined.”
“Simic has also written, in a 1995 essay called “In Praise of Invective,” these ringing words: “There are moments in life when true invective is called for, when there comes an absolute necessity, out of a deep sense of justice, to denounce, mock, vituperate, lash out, rail at in the strongest possible language.””
“The intollerant and vituperate Republicans were removed and the Democrats reached the majority party!”
Think Progress » Pundit Attacking Muslim Congressman Is Bush Appointee to Holocaust Memorial Board
“According to Omer Englebert's hagiography (i) n the presence of the Moors they soon began to vituperate Mohammed, asserting that he was burning in the pit of hell and that all his followers would certainly join him there.”
“Veienti, to whom (as has been said) it was not enough to make war against the Romans, but they also had to vituperate them with words, and went up to the very stockade of their camp to speak their insults, irritating them more with words than with arms: and those soldiers who at first fought unwillingly, constrained the”
“And although these things are so, some of these men have proceeded to such a degree of temerity, that they even pour contempt upon the martyrs, and vituperate those who are slain on account of the confession of the Lord, and who suffer all things predicted by the”
ANF01. The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘vituperate’.
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Test Prep or Just for fun
Building a list for standardized test prep or just for learning some new words! Please add any words that you feel are important for the SAT/GRE/GMAT etc...
throng, morass, parley, facile, kismet, strife, jetsam, carrion, annex, harbinger, vestige, surreptitious and 575 more...
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GRE 2014
abase, abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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New Words
Words I want to add to my working vocabulary.
picayune, elision, intimated, modicum, non sequitur, insouciant, vituperate, asperity, perfidious, gainsay, fulmination, inimical and 11 more...
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Censure (v.)
Someone must have had an inferiority complex.
vituperate, vilify, trounce, traduce, slander, scold, revile, reprove, reprimand, reprehend, remonstrate, rebuke and 37 more...
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catinthehat345's List
compere, reticle, colophon, miasma, eldritch, raconteur, plectrum, poltroon, vestibular, pastiche, cravat, acumen and 179 more...
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Favorite Words
pablum, maundy, histrionic, adamant, ascribe, verbiage, insouciant, erudite, gregarious, superfluous, banal, obdurate and 280 more...
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Hit Parade GRE
Princeton Review words
abscond, aberrant, alacrity, anomaly, approbation, arduous, assuage, audacious, austere, axiomatic, canonical, capricious and 287 more...
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GRE Reference
A list of words unfamiliar to me that I have repeatedly encountered in GRE question sets.
parochial, clique, salacious, aegis, ostracize, conceited, sacrilegious, inane, serendipity, gourmand, polemic, tenuous and 138 more...
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My preparation
for GRE ofcourse
exonerate, incipient, disparate, morbid, engross, ebullient, predilection, propensity, allure, qualms, chastise, perpetuate and 111 more...
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To Learn
enervate, redolent, distaff, approbation, arrogate, bonhomie, palliate, calumny, panoply, contumacious, edify, dyspeptic and 188 more...
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A Mini-Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words
This mini-dictionary was inspired by the novel and imaginative use of language in the following publications:
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown; The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart; Lullaby by...abase, anomie, antediluvium, aphorism, apropos, armoire, ascetic, atrium, austere, balustrade, bordello, catechism and 107 more...
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My Favourite Words
Serendipity, Lackadaisical, Malarkey, Voluptuous, Salacious, vituperate
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Joshee Word List
gash, engross, entail, stoke, ode, vacillate, aspersion, asperity, clan, kith, prospect, nag and 229 more...
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Rabindranath Not Included
i can't never forget thiccyn's!
bubaline, dezinkhornifistib..., hirundine, bee veil, cuckoo spit, resistentialism, hobthrush, burniebee, hookem-snivey, fattiehead, mompyns, mons and 144 more...
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From Book - SAT & College Dictionary ...
ebb, exotic, immure, abeyance, panegyric, debonair, protege, dissipate, frantic, penitent, abject, edify and 871 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for vituperate.

ophelia To blame, speak ill of, find fault with, in strong or violent language; to assail with abuse; to rate or revile.
Not in common use until the beginning of the 19th c. Aug 7, 2008