INVECTIVES Synonyms: 51 Similar and Opposite Words

invectives

noun

plural of invective

as in abuses

harsh insulting language hurled curses and invective at the driver who heedlessly cut them off in traffic

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of invectives These invectives evidently haven’t spooked Son, who once predicted that AI superintelligence would exist by 2035. — Joe Wilkins, Futurism, 16 July 2026 At one point, the crew shot a scene in which Whalen’s character joins a bar fight, shouting invectives at a hapless extra before pummelling him to the ground. — Chang Che, New Yorker, 25 Apr. 2026 Riley would have invented invectives. — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 17 Apr. 2026 Today’s writers use it to wildly different ends, from political invectives to plainspoken diaries to surreal dreamscapes. — Patrick Dundon, JSTOR Daily, 9 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for invectives

Noun

This story was reported by The Washington Post and ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.

— Molly Hensley-Clancy, Washington Post, 20 Aug. 2026
His corruption and abuses of power have been let loose at a scale that was previously only imagined.

— Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of abuses

Noun

The Fantasy Football Draft is that magical stretch of hours where friends, enemies and division nemesis all cram into one room to sling insults with the confidence of seasoned analysts.

— Bill Reinhard, New York Daily News, 16 Aug. 2026
That standard still holds for his frequent barrages of boasts, insults, threats, grouses and indecipherable dispatches via Truth Social.

— Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 13 Aug. 2026

Definition of insults

Noun

In other cases Hoodoo was used to counter the threat of curses, as in the practice of suspending bottles from a tree to trap any malevolent spirits or witches traveling in spirit form.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Aug. 2026
The cumulative impression of Alice that the book leaves is of someone moving serenely through life, meeting fond blessings and awful curses both with the same calm equanimity.

— Ian Penman, Harpers Magazine, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of curses

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invective

invectives

inveigh

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“Invectives.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/invectives. Accessed 23 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of invectives

noun

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