Mark Singer
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Lightning strikes more than once in the history of fulminate. That word comes from the Latin fulminare, meaning "to strike," a verb usually used to refer to lightning strikes—it is struck from fulmen, Latin for "lightning." When fulminate was taken up by English speakers in the 15th century, it lost much of its ancestral thunder and was used largely as a technical term for the issuing of formal denunciations by ecclesiastical authorities. In time, its original lightning spark returned, describing intense strikes of a tirade.
Examples of fulminate in a Sentence
Matt Ford, The New Republic, 4 Apr. 2023
In a statement released shortly after news of his indictment broke, the former president raged and fulminated at his persecutors.
—Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 31 Mar. 2023
Elon Musk famously fulminated about the horrific violent crime in San Francisco and the attackers who get set free.
—Alexei Oreskovic, Fortune, 14 Apr. 2023
All this has reduced the DeSantis camp to fulminating powerlessly.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2023
Democrats were still fulminating (legitimately) about that when Biden signed the IRA into law, so the press mostly ignored the buyback tax’s creation.
—Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 7 Mar. 2023
In a perfect world, people would not use screechy hyperbole to fulminate against those who don't share their position on a given issue.
—Keith Kloor, Discover Magazine, 17 Dec. 2012
Like the town of Simons, Dolgeville also fielded an amateur baseball team, and had an official post office, a bank, and a firehouse, where locals met in 1906 to fulminate about the brothels and saloons thriving outside of the town limits.
—Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2021
But with the 2020 election, the show also no longer had Donald Trump to fulminate against.
—Washington Post, 8 July 2021
Andy Saunders, Discover Magazine, 21 July 2021
Silver fulminate is an incredibly reactive explosive.
—Popular Mechanics Editors, Popular Mechanics, 30 June 2022
While Washington fulminates, progress toward an RCEP is gradually moving the world’s economic center of gravity into Beijing’s orbit.
—Washington Post, 20 Sep. 2019
Pundits on the left are fond of reminding us of how Trump storms and fulminates, the White House itself unable to contain his petulance and rage.
—Fred Turner, Harper's magazine, 10 Jan. 2019
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fulminate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Verb
Middle English, from Medieval Latin fulminatus, past participle of fulminare, from Latin, to strike (of lightning), from fulmin-, fulmen lightning; akin to Latin flagrare to burn — more at black entry 1
Noun
fulminic acid, from Latin fulmin-, fulmen
Verb
15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense
Noun
1824, in the meaning defined above
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Cite this Entry
“Fulminate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fulminate. Accessed 7 Dec. 2023.
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Kids Definition
fulminate
verb
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