jeremiad

noun

jer·​e·​mi·​ad ˌjer-ə-ˈmī-əd 

-ˌad

: a prolonged lamentation or complaint

also : a cautionary or angry harangue

the warnings became jeremiads against the folly of overemphasis on science and technology at the expense of man's subjective and emotional life

—Ada Louise Huxtable

Did you know?

Jeremiah was a Jewish prophet, who lived from about 650 to 570 B.C. and spent his days lambasting the Hebrews for their false worship and social injustice and denouncing the king for his selfishness, materialism, and inequities. When not calling on his people to quit their wicked ways, he was lamenting his own lot; a portion of the biblical Book of Jeremiah is devoted to his "confessions," a series of lamentations on the hardships endured by a prophet with an unpopular message. Nowadays, English speakers use Jeremiah for a pessimistic person and jeremiad for the way these Jeremiahs carry on. The word jeremiad was borrowed from the French, who coined it as jérémiade.

Synonyms

• diatribe
• harangue
• philippic
• rant
• tirade

Examples of jeremiad in a Sentence

a jeremiad against the political apathy shown by so many young people

Recent Examples on the Web

Tocqueville rose in the assembly on January 29, 1848, to deliver a jeremiad. —Dan McLaughlin, National Review, 26 Dec. 2023

In his famous jeremiad against hackneyed political rhetoric, Orwell pointed to a pernicious cycle. —Washington Post, 11 Nov. 2020

This issue is particularly famous for Mona Eltahaway's jeremiad against Arab male culture, and their attitudes toward women. —Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 29 Apr. 2012

The piece is a jeremiad against good taste and Hollywood conservatism. —Wesley Morris, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2022

Word History

Etymology

French jérémiade, from Jérémie Jeremiah, from Late Latin Jeremias

First Known Use

1780, in the meaning defined above