Wiktionary

diatribe

English

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WOTD – 29 January 2006

Etymology

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First attested 1581, borrowed from French diatribe, from Latin diatriba (“learned discussion or discourse”), from Ancient Greek διατριβή (diatribḗ, “way of spending time, lecture”), from διά (diá, “through”) + τρίβω (tríbō, “I waste, wear out”)

Pronunciation

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Noun

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diatribe (plural diatribes)

  1. An abusive, bitter verbal or written attack, criticism or denunciation.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:diatribe
    The senator was prone to diatribes which could go on for more than an hour.
    • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad‎[1]:
      “… No rogue e’er felt the halter draw, with a good opinion of the law, and perhaps my own detestation of the law arises from my having frequently broken it. If this long diatribe bores you, just say so, and I’ll cut it short.”
    • 1991, Bill Crow, Jazz Anecdotes‎[2], Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 316:
      You know, it’s all this racial diatribe, and very strong language, screaming at the top of his lungs into the telephone.
    • 2000 July 8, J. K. Rowling [pseudonym; Joanne Rowling], “Back to the Burrow”, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter; 4), London: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 40:
      Aunt Petunia wasn’t eating anything at all. Her arms were folded, her lips were pursed and she seemed to be chewing her tongue, as though biting back the furious diatribe she longed to throw at Harry.
    • 2021 May 5, Philip Haigh, “I think we need better than this from the rail industry”, in RAIL, number 930, page 51:
      Lest this [be] read as a diatribe against DfT, I have some sympathy with it. That's because whenever there's a problem with the railway, the industry's solution is to ask DfT for billions of pounds.
  2. A prolonged discourse; a long-winded speech.

Derived terms

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Translations

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French

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Etymology

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From Latin diatriba (“learned discussion or discourse”), from Ancient Greek διατριβή (diatribḗ, “way of spending time, lecture”), from διά (diá, “through”) + τρίβω (tríbō, “to waste, wear out”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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diatribe f (plural diatribes)

  1. diatribe (abusive, bitter discourse)

Descendants

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  • English: diatribe
  • Portuguese: diatribe
  • Spanish: diatriba

Further reading

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Italian

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Noun

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diatribe f

  1. plural of diatriba

Anagrams

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Portuguese

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French diatribe.

Pronunciation

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  • (Brazil) IPA(key): /d͡ʒi.aˈtɾi.bi/ [d͡ʒɪ.aˈtɾi.bi], (faster pronunciation) /d͡ʒjaˈtɾi.bi/
    • (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /d͡ʒi.aˈtɾi.be/ [d͡ʒɪ.aˈtɾi.be], (faster pronunciation) /d͡ʒjaˈtɾi.be/
  • (Portugal) IPA(key): /di.ɐˈtɾi.bɨ/ [di.ɐˈtɾi.βɨ], (faster pronunciation) /djɐˈtɾi.bɨ/ [djɐˈtɾi.βɨ]

  • Hyphenation: di‧a‧tri‧be

Noun

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diatribe f (plural diatribes)

  1. diatribe (bitter denunciation)
    Synonyms: catilinária, injúria
  2. diatribe (prolonged discourse)
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