Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To rebuke or criticize harshly or angrily; berate. synonym: scold.
  • intransitive verb To use harshly critical or irate language; rail.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • 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.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To find fault with; to scold; to overwhelm with wordy abuse; to censure severely or abusively; to rate.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To criticize in a harsh or abusive manner; to overwhelm with wordy abuse; to censure severely or abusively; to rate.
  • verb intransitive To use harsh or abusive wording.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb spread negative information about

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin vituperāre, vituperāt-.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin vituperatum, past participle of vituperare ("to blame, censure"), from vitium ("fault, defect") + parare ("to furnish, provide, contrive").

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