hate speech

noun

: speech that is intended to insult, offend, or intimidate a person because of some trait (such as race, color, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability)

Examples of hate speech in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Israeli-American Council forcefully condemned his rhetoric as dangerous, dehumanizing hate speech. — Staff, FOXNews.com, 22 Oct. 2026

The state accused Meta of lying to Facebook users in New Mexico about who had access to their data, how the company handles hate speech and misinformation posted on the platform and other internal policies. — Reuters, NBC news, 21 Oct. 2026

For me, there is no further conversation to be had about rebuilding relationships with anyone in my life after reaching the point of physical violence and hate speech. — Isabella Albaig, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2026

Police were monitoring social media for hate speech and incitement to violence. — ABC News, 15 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1968, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for hate speech

• microfiche
• overreach
• taoiseach
• beach
• beech
• bleach
• breach
• breech
• each
• keech
• leach
• leech

Legal Definition

hate speech

noun

: speech that is intended to insult, offend, or intimidate a person because of some trait (as race, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, or disability)