as in insult
an act or expression showing scorn and usually intended to hurt another's feelings
the brickbats were flying the night that those two bitchy divas were seated at the same table
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Recent Examples of brickbat
India has faced brickbats for not testing enough despite the emphasis laid by the World Health Organisation.
—
Niharika Sharma,
Quartz India,
22 Mar. 2020
His popularity has survived brickbats and thrived despite personal woes.
—
Matthew Daly,
Anchorage Daily News,
5 Feb. 2020
Mr Johnson is hyper-sensitive to the brickbats of the liberal elite into which he was born, and sulked after the referendum when his neighbours in Islington turned against him.
—
Boris Johnson,
The Economist,
4 July 2019
Lenny, who was accustomed to brickbats, picked himself up and kept his conducting dates, but Jamie believes that Felicia, suffering from public humiliation, was never the same.
—
David Denby,
The New Yorker,
16 June 2018
Years of critical brickbats toughened Albee’s already tough hide and taught him to trust only himself.
—
Jesse Green,
New York Times,
21 Feb. 2018
Niharika Sharma,
Quartz India,
22 Mar. 2020
His popularity has survived brickbats and thrived despite personal woes.
—
Matthew Daly,
Anchorage Daily News,
5 Feb. 2020
Mr Johnson is hyper-sensitive to the brickbats of the liberal elite into which he was born, and sulked after the referendum when his neighbours in Islington turned against him.
—
Boris Johnson,
The Economist,
4 July 2019
Lenny, who was accustomed to brickbats, picked himself up and kept his conducting dates, but Jamie believes that Felicia, suffering from public humiliation, was never the same.
—
David Denby,
The New Yorker,
16 June 2018
Years of critical brickbats toughened Albee’s already tough hide and taught him to trust only himself.
—
Jesse Green,
New York Times,
21 Feb. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brickbat
Noun
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According to Spell and members of his congregation, the man had a history of verbally harassing them with threats, insults and racial slurs.
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Michael Lind, the writer and New America co-founder, argues in Commonplace, the magazine of Oren Cass’s American Compass, that a decent wage and a safety net should be enough, and that handing workers a stake in capital insults the dignity of their labor.
Noun
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Bluth family at the show's center, while Howard narrated the action with plenty of sarcasm.
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Avoid using silence, sarcasm or strategic distance when direct language would resolve the issue faster.
Noun
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Hard fouls are routinely minimized, and meaningful discipline often arrives only after public outrage forces the league's hand.
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But his qualms weren’t about the level of destruction in Gaza or the high civilian toll, both of which drew global outrage.
Cite this Entry
“Brickbat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brickbat. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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