Definition
Invective is a noun that refers to abusive or insulting language that is used to attack or denounce someone. It is a type of speech that is often characterized by its vitriolic tone and aggressive rhetoric, and is intended to humiliate or discredit the person being targeted.
Pronunciation
US English
UK English
See Synonyms, Antonyms and Usage
Excerpts from News Articles
1
The ex-president’s logic was often difficult to follow and he shouted certain words for emphasis in a way that expressed his fury. But while rambling, Trump opened another window into one of the most sinister aspects of the invective reminiscent of his “American carnage” inaugural speech.
2
What, for instance, does it mean to be insulted? Stand by a rock and insult it, and what have you accomplished? If someone responds to insult like a rock, what has the abuser gained with his invective ?’
3
The result was a bitterly adversarial hearing that unfolded in a carnival-like atmosphere, drawing angry protesters from the left and the right who hoisted signs and hurled invective that was only slightly more vitriolic than the debate between Democratic and Republican lawmakers.
4
Cicero’s speeches are likewise combed for memorable lines, from the instantly recognisable Cui bono (“Who benefits?”) to his invectives against Mark Antony.
5
Minutes later, the police line collapsed and Alberts rushed with the crowd to the foot of the Capitol. There, he confronted police officers, calling them “domestic terrorists” for refusing to permit Trump supporters to “overthrow the government,” which he characterized as a patriotic duty. He meandered the exterior of the building for hours before hurling more invective — and a water bottle — at officers trying to clear the mob from the Capitol’s Upper West Terrace plaza.
6
The latest anti-Israel invective came amid heightened tensions between the Jewish state and the Islamic Republic
7
Like all questions about artificial general intelligence, or unicorns, or little green men, it’s impossible to answer whether an AI’s data set including every bit of racist invective @Groyper69420 has ever hurled at unsuspecting Twitter users will endear or depreciate humanity in its digital mind.
8
The value of open debate and free speech is a theme of Shahrooz’s Twitter posts, one that exists alongside his invectives . In one tweet, for example, Shahrooz wrote that “the real test of your commitment to liberal democracy is the willingness to defend speech you hate. To stand up for the rights of your enemies.”
9
“The cycle of degenerating discourse won’t stop if we insist that people we disagree with must first behave the way we want them to. Nor will it stop if we try to shame each other into submission,” she continued. “It stops when we choose to replace condemnation with curiosity, invective with inquiry.”
10
Amnesty International accused her of “pouring petrol on a xenophobic and racist fire they themselves have lit”. Labour also condemned Ms Braverman’s comments – with a spokesperson calling it the “sort of invective ” that signals that the policies being promoted “have failed”.
11
It’s a challenge for Fox News, which in the past few months has also found itself embarrassed by court disclosures which showed that Carlson, among others, did not believe much of the election fraud invective that Fox News’s audience was gobbling up night after night.
