as in abuse
harsh insulting language
hurled curses and invective at the driver who heedlessly cut them off in traffic
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in abusive
marked by harsh insulting language
an overbearing, bullying boss who is fond of sending invective e-mails to long-suffering assistants
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of invective
Lauren Elkin, New York Times, 20 May 2025
Oilers fans booed the American national anthem, and one woman used a lull to shout an invective about Mr. Trump.
—John Branch, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2025
Clyde Wayne Crews Jr, Forbes.com, 12 May 2025
In the same year, Disney’s ESPN had to contend with host Pat McAfee, a rambunctious host, hurling invective at a former senior executive, Norby Williamson, who the host alleged had tried to sabotage his program.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 28 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for invective
Noun
Mike the promoter and his right-hand man, Shorty, a person with dwarfism who comes in for page after page of ableist invective.
—Lauren Elkin, New York Times, 20 May 2025
Oilers fans booed the American national anthem, and one woman used a lull to shout an invective about Mr. Trump.
—John Branch, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2025
Adjective
So despite invective aimed at Trump and DOGE, limiting executive power is hardly what progressives want.
—Clyde Wayne Crews Jr, Forbes.com, 12 May 2025
In the same year, Disney’s ESPN had to contend with host Pat McAfee, a rambunctious host, hurling invective at a former senior executive, Norby Williamson, who the host alleged had tried to sabotage his program.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 28 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for invective
Recent Examples of Synonyms for invective
Noun
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Disability Rights Wisconsin could lose funding for several programs, including investigating abuse and neglect across the state's in-patient facilities.—
Hope Karnopp,
jsonline.com,
18 Aug. 2025
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Democrats said Trump’s asking a foreign government to investigate a political rival amounted to an egregious abuse of power.—
Michael Collins,
USA Today,
18 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The decision sparked a firestorm on social media — where much of the debate around these issues is taking place — and Jackson-Smith was the target of abusive and threatening comments from both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine supporters.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Aug. 2025
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At the same time, Mahoney was dealing with legal battles against her abusive ex-boyfriend.—
Victoria Elena Valenzuela,
USA Today,
2 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Flash forward 92-plus years to Donald Trump’s rally Sunday at New York’s Madison Square Garden, a bleak, lurid festival of racist hate and profane vituperation so vile that even fellow Republicans, who have turned a blind eye to Trump’s character for years, are distancing themselves from the event.—
Michael Hiltzik,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Oct. 2024
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The politicization of the COVID response has only worsened this trend, likely resulting in part from Trump’s vituperation.—
Matt Motta,
Scientific American,
29 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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The result was viciously insulting, not the sort of thing anyone would want to read about themselves.—
Miles Klee,
Rolling Stone,
18 July 2025
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To not even reach 10 percent is insulting to all involved and indicates how much needs to change, which is exactly what a group of industry power players are attempting to do in Nashville.—
Steve Baltin,
Forbes.com,
23 July 2025
Noun
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Several diss tracks followed, with the musicians hurling increasingly spiteful insults at each other relating to accusations of domestic abuse, exploitation and pedophilia.—
Winston Cho,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Aug. 2025
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According to a cell phone video, obtained through CAIR, the man shouted several Islamophobic insults, including insults attacking Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.—
Sean Krofssik,
Hartford Courant,
11 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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This game lets fans of telenovelas take on the outrageous characters and melodramatic plot twists to tell memorable stories.—
Rob Wieland,
Forbes.com,
6 Aug. 2025
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Adam Devine brought outrageous comedy to the role of Bumper and has been a regular face in film and TV since.—
Tereza Shkurtaj,
People.com,
3 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Two weeks after first pointing a firehose of blistering criticism at the Donald Trump administration, South Park is still going full bore against Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.—
Ryan Coleman,
EW.com,
13 Aug. 2025
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YouTube and other social media platforms are cracking down on age verification measures after facing criticism that teens could circumvent their safeguards by signing up with a fake birthdate.—
Clare Duffy,
CNN Money,
13 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Even the company’s most vituperative detractors acknowledge its engineering genius and applaud its success in driving down launch expenses (unlike many defense contractors, SpaceX largely eats the cost of its failures).—
Franklin Foer,
The Atlantic,
28 July 2025
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Transcripts of the depositions conducted by utility lawyers were made public Friday in Superior Court and hundreds of pages of questions and answers suggest questions about who contributed what to the vituperative oped may never be answered to everyone’s satisfaction.—
Edmund H. Mahony,
Hartford Courant,
25 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Invective.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/invective. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.
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