as in to mouth (off)
to talk as if giving an important and formal speech
an arrogant scholar who never passes up an opportunity to posture and perorate on stunningly unimportant matters
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Recent Examples of perorate
As a black spiritual hums on the soundtrack, Hooded Justice perorates about the legacy of being the victim—not the complicit or recruited perpetrator—of violence:
My mama played the piano right over there.
—
Namwali Serpell, The New York Review of Books, 24 Mar. 2020
Namwali Serpell, The New York Review of Books, 24 Mar. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for perorate
Verb
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Actions speak louder than words, though, and Breslow’s actions last offseason put the Red Sox in a better spot to contend.—
Jen McCaffrey,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
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In the series’ final chapters, Gein is also shown speaking to Jorgensen, in a fantastical conversation, via ham radio while in prison.—
Mathew Rodriguez,
Them.,
7 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The cycle can become so accidentally ubiquitous that the former kids who blissfully existed outside of whatever discourses these trends or bands started in their heyday wonder now, as adults, what was so bad about them in the first place.—
Brittany Spanos,
Rolling Stone,
21 July 2025
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Admissions officers want to see that students will contribute meaningfully to discourse on campus.—
Christopher Rim,
Forbes.com,
17 July 2025
Verb
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Truman would never have harangued the international community that America is First, or obstructed every effort to better the lot of humanity by asking what’s in it for the U.S., not in coming decades but during this news cycle.—
Andreas Kluth,
Mercury News,
26 Sep. 2025
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Philadelphia Phillies fan Drew Feltwell wants people to lay off the woman who harangued him and his son over a home run ball at a game last week.—
George Ramsay,
CNN Money,
9 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Perorate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/perorate. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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