Meaning & use
vituperative
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Meaning
adjectivecomparableformaldisapproving
Full of bitter, angry and insulting words aimed at someone.
Grammar: Usually describes speech or writing: a vituperative attack; the review was vituperative.
Patterns
- a vituperative attack on someone
- vituperative language
The senator launched a vituperative attack on his rival during the debate.
Her email was so vituperative that nobody dared reply.
Online comment sections can become vituperative within minutes.
Word forms
| comparative | more vituperative |
|---|---|
| superlative | most vituperative |
Common combinations
- vituperative attack
- The columnist wrote a vituperative attack on the mayor.
- vituperative language
- The judge warned against vituperative language in court.
- vituperative criticism
- The film received vituperative criticism from reviewers.
- vituperative rant
- His vituperative rant lasted twenty minutes.
- vituperative exchange
- The meeting ended in a vituperative exchange between the partners.
Synonyms and how they differ
- abusive
- Abusive is the plainer, more common word and can also describe actions, while vituperative is almost always about words.
- scathing
- Scathing means severely critical but can be controlled and clever, whereas vituperative suggests ranting.
- venomous
- Venomous stresses spite and hatred more than the flood of words implied by vituperative.
- acerbic
- Acerbic is sharp and bitter but usually witty, unlike the angry heat of vituperative.
Opposites
Word family
- vituperation noun
- bitter, abusive criticism
- vituperate verb
- to criticize in a harsh, abusive way
- vituperatively adverb
- in an abusive, bitter manner
Commonly confused: vituperative or vituperative?
vituperative vs vituperative
Learners sometimes mistake it for 'vituperous'; the correct adjective is vituperative.
Practice
Which person is most likely to be described as vituperative?
Choose one answer.
Vituperative means bitterly abusive in words, so the insulting critic fits. The coach is gentle and the others show no abuse.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “vituperative”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.