philippics

noun

plural of philippic
as in attacks
a long angry speech or scolding the head coach was briefly suspended after launching into a foul-mouthed philippic during a press conference

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for philippics
  1. attacks
  2. criticisms
  3. tirades
  4. jeremiads
  5. diatribes
  6. rants
  7. harangues
  8. sermons
Noun
  • Despite distancing herself from her Democratic predecessor, Klobuchar faced attacks from Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, who ran in the Republican primary, arguing that her leadership would be tantamount to giving Walz another term.
    — Rena Rowe, The Washington Examiner, 12 Aug. 2026
  • The attacks come as tensions are rising between the government of western Libya and warlord Mohamed Bahroun, who controls the city of Zawiya.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of attacks
Noun
  • Some scientists in the room said Kennedy’s expressions of appreciation were difficult to hear after his previous criticisms of the CDC, as well as federal health department cuts last year that included hundreds of positions at the agency.
    — Lena H. Sun, Washington Post, 7 Aug. 2026
  • The movie itself disappoints him for its deviations from the Stephen King novel (including this detail may help preempt criticisms over this adaptation), but he’s also distracted by the presence of a strikingly handsome stranger (Homer Gere).
    — Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of criticisms
Noun
  • Her scrolled embroideries have since been described as tirades, rants, and screeds—no horses or cables, just the language pummeling the eye.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee once put it this way about why some golfer tirades add character while others are despised.
    — Brody Miller, New York Times, 19 June 2026
Definition of tirades
Noun
  • The question, of course, is what we are supposed to do with these bourgeois jeremiads against bourgeois civilization, beyond enjoying them as high-end primal-scream therapy.
    — Alex Ross, New Yorker, 15 June 2026
Definition of jeremiads
Noun
  • Design After endless diatribes about the quirky lines of Ferrari’s all-electric Luce, the marque’s enthusiasts will find that the Amalfi Spider’s long-hood, raked-screen, and open-top lines are comfortingly familiar and unquestionably gorgeous.
    — Howard Walker, Robb Report, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Trump’s social media feed and rhetoric overflow with racist diatribes.
    — Laura Washington, Chicago Tribune, 3 June 2026
Definition of diatribes
Noun
  • Her scrolled embroideries have since been described as tirades, rants, and screeds—no horses or cables, just the language pummeling the eye.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Aug. 2026
  • That’s what 49ers outcast Brandon Aiyuk, amid his recent social-media rants, mockingly called the practice facility that neighbors an almighty electrical substation.
    — Cam Inman, Mercury News, 24 July 2026
Definition of rants
Noun
  • Stephen Adly Guirgis, a New York playwright who specializes in urban pressure-cooker dramas, has a gift for writing subway strap-hanger harangues.
    — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2026
Definition of harangues
Noun
  • She was schooled in The African Methodist Pocket Hymn Book and the word-power of sermons.
    — Ian Penman, Harpers Magazine, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Not like brushing shoulders with Lil Baby and Lil Yachty is a musical death sentence (Veeze is still tearing it up), but for a rapper who specialized in free-flowing street sermons, that slight touch of formalism and structure depletes the vibe.
    — Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 29 July 2026
Definition of sermons
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.

Browse Nearby Words

philippic
philippics
philistine
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Cite this Entry

“Philippics.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/philippics. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.

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