vituperate

verb

vī-ˈtü-pə-ˌrāt How to pronounce vituperate (audio)
Definition of vituperatenext
as in to attack
to criticize harshly and usually publicly every week the minister would ascend the pulpit and vituperate the parishioners for a litany of vices

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How does the verb vituperate differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of vituperate are berate, rail, revile, scold, and upbraid. While all these words mean "to reproach angrily and abusively," vituperate suggests a violent reviling.

was vituperated for betraying his friends

In what contexts can berate take the place of vituperate?

While the synonyms berate and vituperate are close in meaning, berate suggests prolonged and often abusive scolding.

berated continually by an overbearing boss

When is it sensible to use rail instead of vituperate?

The meanings of rail and vituperate largely overlap; however, rail (at or against) stresses an unrestrained berating.

railed loudly at their insolence

When might revile be a better fit than vituperate?

The synonyms revile and vituperate are sometimes interchangeable, but revile implies a scurrilous, abusive attack prompted by anger or hatred.

an alleged killer reviled in the press

Where would scold be a reasonable alternative to vituperate?

The words scold and vituperate can be used in similar contexts, but scold implies rebuking in irritation or ill temper justly or unjustly.

angrily scolding the children

When can upbraid be used instead of vituperate?

While in some cases nearly identical to vituperate, upbraid implies censuring on definite and usually justifiable grounds.

upbraided her assistants for poor research

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for vituperate
  1. attack
  2. scold
  3. slam
  4. insult
  5. savage
  6. criticize
Verb
  • According to court documents reviewed by The Times, the model alleges that Sandoval shoved her down a flight of stairs in his home, pushed her to the ground at a hotel in Nashville, and attacked her and her father on June 3.
    — Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2026
  • Electing to keep his No 5 on the field, the Brazil head coach made a subtle tactical tweak that saw Endrick enter the action and brought Matheus Cunha further to the left flank — which unlocked the attacking prowess of Vinicius Junior.
    — Mark Carey, New York Times, 6 July 2026
Definition of attack
Verb
  • Soon though, Shawna noticed some of Zaayer's strange behaviors — including scolding her grandson, getting upset over cleaning habits and allegedly showing them racist videos.
    — Caroline Blair, PEOPLE, 3 July 2026
  • Justice Barrett actually sounded kind of sharp, almost scolding, in the opinion in her criticism of the assertions made by the plaintiffs and some of the justices in the minority.
    — John E. Jones III, The Conversation, 1 July 2026
Definition of scold
Verb
  • Prosecutors allege Clay intentionally drove his car onto the sidewalk, sped toward a crowd of pedestrians and hit eight of them before slamming into a gate.
    — Jason Green, Mercury News, 7 July 2026
  • Anthony Seigler led off the fifth with a double, Ceddanne Rafaela walked, and Abreu slammed a two-run double off the right-field wall for a 5-1 lead.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 5 July 2026
Definition of slam
Verb
  • The Los Angeles Dodgers insulted their Catholic paying customers by honoring a drag group that parades around as nuns and mocks their religion.
    — Ian Miller OutKick, FOXNews.com, 2 July 2026
  • But insult records and revenge songs go back to well before hip-hop.
    — René Ostberg, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 July 2026
Definition of insult
Verb
  • The two sides publicly savaged each other, with dueling allegations of mishandling forensic evidence, among other things.
    — Joaquin Sapien, ProPublica, 30 June 2026
  • But the brutal attack on his girlfriend wasn’t the first time Smith had tried to stop the two pit-bull-and-Catahoua-leopard-mix dogs from savaging someone, according to an affidavit for an arrest warrant filed with the court.
    — Natasha Holt, FOXNews.com, 14 June 2026
Definition of savage
Verb
  • For all her talk of women as allies, Siebel Newsom portrays conservative women who criticize other women as dupes manipulated by MAGA leaders.
    — Jenny Jarvie Follow, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2026
  • Last month, his ally Uthmeier declined to criticize the state party’s decision to limit the debate.
    — Romy Ellenbogen Herald, Miami Herald, 6 July 2026
Definition of criticize
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

vittles
vituperate
vituperated
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Cite this Entry

“Vituperate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vituperate. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

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