vituperate
UK /vɪˈtjuːpəɹeɪt/ · US /vəˈt(j)upəˌɹeɪt/ verb, adjective
Forms vituperates vituperating vituperated
- verb To criticize (someone or something) in an abusive or harsh manner.
- verb To attack (someone or something) with abusive language; to revile, to vilify.
- verb (intransitive) To use abusive or harsh words.
- adjective Of, characterized by, or relating to abusive or harsh criticism.
- adjective (rare) Which has been abusively or harshly criticized; also, deserving harsh criticism.
Synonyms
berate scold admonish animadvert bash bawl out tilt cannonade slash lash blame scorch blast berisp castigate censure charge chastise chew out chide vilify revile rail
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin vituperātus (“censured; disparaged”), perfect passive participle of vituperō (“to blame, scold, tell off; to censure; to disparage, find fault with”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from vitium (“blemish, defect, flaw, imperfection; crime, misdeed, wrongdoing; fault, error, sin; vice; disease (of plants)”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(d)wi-tyo- (“apart; wrong”), from *dwóh₁ (“two”)) + parō (“to acquire, get, obtain, procure; to arrange, order; to contrive, design; to furnish, provide; to produce; to decide, resolve”) (from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to get, procure; to produce; to bring forward; to bring forth, carry forth; to go through”)).
Learned borrowing from Latin vituperātus (“censured; disparaged”), see Etymology 1 and -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To find fault with; to scold; to overwhelm with wordy abuse; to censure severely or abusively; to rate.
Etymology [L. vituperatus, p. p. of vituperare to blame, vituperate; vitium a fault + parare to prepare. See Vice a fault, and Pare, v. t.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “vituperate”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details