invective

See also: invectivé

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle French invective, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl]  invectiva (“abusive speech”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin invectīvus, from invectus, perfect passive participle of invehō (“bring in”), from in + vehō (“carry”). See vehicle, and compare with inveigh.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈvɛktɪv/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪv
• Rhymes: -ɛktɪv

Noun

invective (countable and uncountable, plural invectives)

1. An expression which inveighs or rails against a person.
2. A severe or violent censure or reproach.
3. Something spoken or written, intended to cast shame, disgrace, censure, or reproach on another.
   • 2013 September 14, Jane Shilling, “The Golden Thread: the Story of Writing, by Ewan Clayton, review [print edition: Illuminating language]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review)‎^[1], page R28:

     [A] savage passage of 14th-century invective about the text-obsessed nerdiness of the Florentine bibliophile and friend of Petrarch, Niccolò Niccoli ...

4. A harsh or reproachful accusation.

   Politics can raise invective to a low art.

Translations

Something spoken or written, intended to cast opprobrium, censure,

• Bulgarian: хули (bg) f pl (huli), ругатни (bg) f pl (rugatni)
• Italian: invettiva (it) f
• Maori: kaioraora
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Serbo-Croatian: invektiva (sh) f
• Swedish: invektiv (sv) n

Adjective

invective (comparative more invective, superlative most invective)

1. Characterized by invection or railing.

   Tom's speeches became diatribes — each more invective than the last.

Synonyms

• (characterized by invection or railing): abusive, critical, denunciatory, satirical, vitriolic, vituperative

Translations

Characterized by invection or railing

• Bulgarian: обиден (bg) (obiden), ругателен (bg) (rugatelen)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

---

French

Pronunciation

• Homophones: invectivent, invectives

Noun

invective f (plural invectives)

1. invective

Verb

invective

1. first-person singular present indicative of invectiver
2. third-person singular present indicative of invectiver
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of invectiver
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of invectiver
5. second-person singular imperative of invectiver

Further reading

• “invective”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

---

Portuguese

Verb

invective

1. first-person singular present subjunctive of invectivar
2. third-person singular present subjunctive of invectivar
3. third-person singular imperative of invectivar