diatribe
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About Our Definitions: All forms of a word (noun, verb, etc.) are now displayed on one page.di·a·tribe
noun \ˈdī-ə-ˌtrīb\Definition of DIATRIBE
1
archaic : a prolonged discourse
2
: a bitter and abusive speech or piece of writing
3
: ironic or satirical criticism
See Examples of DIATRIBE
- The article is a diatribe against mainstream media.
- a bitter diatribe about how unfair the tax system is
- … his apparent inability to keep his pen from drifting from the main objective of his words into diatribe must have taken away from the sound and otherwise convincing arguments that he advanced. —Henry Petroski, Engineers of Dreams, 1995
- I looked … and listened to her ahistorical and apolitical diatribe. Her comments were a more extreme form of the kind of Black bashing I've often heard … —Itabari Njeri, “Sushi and Grits,” in Lure and Loathing, 1993
- … gradually I realize the headman's diatribe has begun to feature a new term I was unfamiliar with at the time—the word for caterpillar, as it turns out, in the Iban dialect. —T. Coraghessan Boyle, Harper's, April 1993
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Origin of DIATRIBE
Latin diatriba, from Greek diatribē pastime, discourse, from diatribein to spend (time), wear away, from dia- + tribein to rub — more at throw
First Known Use: 1581
Rhymes with DIATRIBE
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