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inveigh

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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WOTD – 5 August 2011

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin invehō (“bring in, carry in”), from in- + vehō (“carry”). Compare vehicle, invective.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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inveigh (third-person singular simple present inveighs, present participle inveighing, simple past and past participle inveighed)

  1. (intransitive, with against or occasionally about, formerly also with on, at, upon) To complain loudly, to give voice to one's censure or criticism [from 16th c.]
    Synonym: invect
    • 1593, Tho[mas] Nashe, Christs Teares Over Ierusalem. […], London: […] Iames Roberts, and are to be solde by Andrewe Wise, […], →OCLC, folio 76, verso:
      Very largely haue I inueighed againſt this vice [gluttony] elſvvhere, vvherefore heere I vvill truſſe it vp more ſurcinct;[sic – meaning succinct] […]
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:
      He inveighed against the folly of making oneself liable for the debts of others; vented many bitter execrations against the brother; and concluded with wishing something could be done for the unfortunate family.
    • 1860, William Cullen Bryant, letter, 14 Sep 1860:
      I saw Mr. Cairns yesterday. He inveighed at great length at what he called Mr. Willis's neglect of his children, saying he had just discovered that they got no whortleberries and no fish, and that he was just beginning to send them those things.
    • 1989, Jack Vance, Madouc:
      Noblemen loyal to King Milo inveighed upon him, until at last he sent off dispatches to King Audry and King Aillas, alerting them to the peculiar rash of forays, raids and provocations current along the Lyonesse border.
    • 1999 September 26, Will Hutton, “A pox on euro sceptics”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 24 January 2025:
      Only last week, three aggressively written pamphlets crossed my desk inveighing against the euro.
    • 2011 August 18, Elizabeth Drew, “What were they thinking?”, in New York Review of Books:
      After the President, in a press conference in late June, inveighed against tax breaks for corporate jets, the industry quickly insisted that such a change would cost jobs.
    • 2016 February 9, Jonathan Martin, Patrick Healy, “Trump and [Bernie] Sanders capture New Hampshire primaries”, in Anchorage Daily News‎[2], Anchorage, Ak.: Binkley Co., archived from the original on 29 May 2016:
      He [Donald Trump] declared his independence from a reviled status quo by inveighing in blunt and occasionally vulgar terms about "stupid" leaders weakening America.
    • 2024 April 16, Christopher Beam, “Welcome to Pricing Hell”, in Jeffrey Goldberg, editor, The Atlantic‎[3], Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC:
      He [Plato] also inveighed against the hotel fees of his day, condemning people who show hospitality to travelers but then extract “the most unjust, abominable, and extortionate ransom."
      (Can we archive this URL?)
  2. (obsolete, transitive) To draw in or away; to entice, inveigle. [17th–19th c.]
    • a. 1681 (date written), Samuel Butler, edited by R[obert] Thyer, The Genuine Remains in Verse and Prose of Mr. Samuel Butler, […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1759, →OCLC:
      He is a Spirit, that inveighs away a Man from himself, undertakes great Matters for him, and after fells him for a Slave.

Derived terms

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Translations

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