Definition of VEHEMENTLY

Examples of vehement in a Sentence

Cranes rise above the old rooftops, adding new office towers and new condominiums and new malls to a city where Jonathan Swift once issued his vehement bulletins. — Pete Hamill, Gourmet, April 2007 As they shouted and mocked, I wondered how they could have developed such intense, vehement hatred toward people with whom they had had no previous contact. — Todd Hechtman, The News/Sun-Sentinel, 1 Feb. 1987 He cursed himself like a less scrupulous Job, as a vehement man will do when he loses self-respect, the last mental prop under poverty. — Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge, 1886 Both the ladies indulged in vehement screaming for several minutes; and Mr. Cymon Tuggs, besides sustaining intense bodily pain, had the additional mental anguish of witnessing their distressing situation, without having the power to rescue them, by reason of his leg being firmly screwed in between the animal and the wall. — Charles Dickens, Sketches by "Boz", 1836 He issued a vehement denial of the accusation. The proposal has faced vehement opposition from many teachers. She was vehement about the need for new safety measures.

Recent Examples on the Web

On the whole, reactions to the film were so vehement that some wondered if the movie was too controversial to be released at all. — Alissa Wilkinson, Vox, "Critics called Lars von Trier’s new movie “repulsive.” It’s being released twice.," 6 Dec. 2018 In the 11 months since Meadow was murdered, Mr. Pollack has been transformed from an ordinary suburban dad and rental-market realtor to a vehement, in-your-face crusader for school safety. — Tunku Varadarajan, WSJ, "A Parkland Father’s Quest for Accountability," 11 Jan. 2019 Leaked reports of the solutions being discussed led to vehement speculation and no shortage of nationalist rhetoric in Greece. — Niki Kitsantonis, New York Times, "Greeks Protest Over Neighbor’s Use of the Name Macedonia," 21 Jan. 2018 Unmentioned in the statements were the videos that drew vehement objections online and prompted dozens of celebrities to drop out of Wednesday’s event and call for boycotts. — WSJ, "Dolce & Gabbana Tripped Up in China by Promo Deemed Racist," 22 Nov. 2018 Millions had taken to the streets to call for her ouster in largely peaceful rallies, but there had also been vehement protests supporting Park. — Washington Post, "World Digest: July 10, 2018," 10 July 2018 Merkel’s Christian Democratic government is vehement in its opposition to the rising anti-Semitism. — Fox News, "Anti-Semitism on the rise in Germany as Jewish business owners and students are targeted online," 2 Aug. 2018 The story provoked unusually vehement denials about its accuracy. — Jon Talton, The Seattle Times, "Beijing’s ‘Trojan chips’ present a risk to more than corporations," 9 Oct. 2018 Depending on the politics or representation involved, fans and critics react on social media and news sites with either celebration or vehement backlash. — Patricia Hernandez, The Verge, "Vincent D’Onofrio asks Twitter to weigh in on whether playing an ‘irredeemable racist’ is constructive," 13 Aug. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'vehement.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for vehement

borrowed from Middle French, going back to Old French, borrowed from Latin vehement-, vehemens, vēmens "violent, vigorous, (of feelings) overmastering, powerful," perhaps from vehere "to convey, carry along, drive" + -mens, adjective suffix (as in clēmens "mild, calm") of uncertain origin

Note: Alternatively explained as a prefix vē- "faulty, excessive or deficient" and ment-, mens "mind," in which case -ehe- is an unetymological spelling of the long vowel. Though this would account for vehemens in place of *vehimens (with normal vowel weakening), the word never has the sense "mentally deranged" (the meanings of the presumed parallel formations vēcors and vēsānus).

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