diatribe
English
WOTD – 29 January 2006
Etymology
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
- IPA(key): /ˈdaɪ.əˌtɹaɪb/
Noun
diatribe (plural diatribes)
- An abusive, bitter, attack, or criticism: denunciation.
- 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad:
- “… 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.”
- 2000, J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Scholastic Press, →ISBN, page 41:
- 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.
-
- A prolonged discourse.
- A speech or writing which bitterly denounces something.
- The senator was prone to diatribes which could go on for more than an hour.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:diatribe
Derived terms
- diatribal
Translations
bitter denunciation
prolongued discourse
French
Etymology
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
- IPA(key): /dja.tʁib/
Further reading
- “diatribe” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Portuguese
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: di‧a‧tri‧be
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