as in abuse
harsh insulting language
hurled curses and invective at the driver who heedlessly cut them off in traffic
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in abusive
marked by harsh insulting language
an overbearing, bullying boss who is fond of sending invective e-mails to long-suffering assistants
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of invective
Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 12 June 2025
After nights of clashes, then-President Donald Trump, known for issuing directives and invectives through social media, fired off a series of posts shortly before 1 a.m. on Friday, May 29, 2020.
—Chelsea Bailey, CNN Money, 24 May 2025
Sean Campbell, The Conversation, 23 May 2025
So despite invective aimed at Trump and DOGE, limiting executive power is hardly what progressives want.
—Clyde Wayne Crews Jr, Forbes.com, 12 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for invective
Noun
Douglas McCarthy, the vocalist who hectored anarchic invective with EBM innovators Nitzer Ebb and who joined Depeche Mode keyboardist Alan Wilder’s Recoil side project, died Wednesday at the age of 58.
—Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 12 June 2025
After nights of clashes, then-President Donald Trump, known for issuing directives and invectives through social media, fired off a series of posts shortly before 1 a.m. on Friday, May 29, 2020.
—Chelsea Bailey, CNN Money, 24 May 2025
Adjective
Between the time the former Marine Soto was indicted in 2018 and sentenced in 2020, then-President Donald Trump offered up vitriolic invective to Mexican officials.
—Sean Campbell, The Conversation, 23 May 2025
So despite invective aimed at Trump and DOGE, limiting executive power is hardly what progressives want.
—Clyde Wayne Crews Jr, Forbes.com, 12 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for invective
Recent Examples of Synonyms for invective
Noun
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The agents had been following leads from an anti-trafficking organization, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, that in 2015 had uncovered the abuses of harvesters at an onion farm near Vidalia.—
ProPublica,
ProPublica,
13 Sep. 2025
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California officials are trying to kill the fossil fuel industry in the state while simultaneously seeking a buyer for Valero Energy’s Benicia refinery near San Francisco, which is scheduled to close in April because the company no longer wants to deal with the abuse from Sacramento.—
Kerry Jackson,
Oc Register,
13 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The fourth episode depicts him as a negligent and emotionally abusive lover to Satan, further connecting him to the show’s previous portrayals of Saddam Hussein.—
Nick Marx,
The Conversation,
11 Sep. 2025
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This all in spite of Johanne’s best efforts to present Johanna in the most radiant of lights, a fact Johanna deems as abusive more than flattering.—
Harrison Richlin,
IndieWire,
11 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Flash forward 92-plus years to Donald Trump’s rally Sunday at New York’s Madison Square Garden, a bleak, lurid festival of racist hate and profane vituperation so vile that even fellow Republicans, who have turned a blind eye to Trump’s character for years, are distancing themselves from the event.—
Michael Hiltzik,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Oct. 2024
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The politicization of the COVID response has only worsened this trend, likely resulting in part from Trump’s vituperation.—
Matt Motta,
Scientific American,
29 Oct. 2024
Adjective
-
Using those who serve in uniform as political props is insulting.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
13 Sep. 2025
-
The whole thing feels redundant and borderline insulting.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Jokes can offend, annoy, insult or fall flat.—
Diane Brady,
Fortune,
19 Sep. 2025
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The New York Times reported this phrase is a common insult across the internet.—
Ella Gonzales,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
18 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Critics are waxing nostalgic for the edgy and outrageous comments of social critic humorists such as Dick Gregory, Mort Sahl, George Carlin, and Don Imus, forgetting that none of those figures were ever the host of a broadcast network TV show.—
Dave Smith,
Fortune,
19 Sep. 2025
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Notably, numerous high-profile cable news has-beens have legitimized Owens' outrageous laundering of a left-wing political assassination into an anti-Semitic caper.—
Josh Hammer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
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But some of his comments on gun violence, LGBTQ issues, race and more often drew criticism from liberals and others.—
Alexandra Hutzler,
ABC News,
20 Sep. 2025
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Trump has been campaigning against Kimmel for months over his criticism of him, so he is thrilled with the show's suspension.—
Brittney Melton,
NPR,
19 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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In the years intervening, the poem has remained a lodestar, a contravening presence when, in present day America’s vituperative political landscape, the humanities disciplines and higher education itself has been forced to invoke and defend its own authority.—
Elaine L. Wang
September 11,
Literary Hub,
11 Sep. 2025
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Even the company’s most vituperative detractors acknowledge its engineering genius and applaud its success in driving down launch expenses (unlike many defense contractors, SpaceX largely eats the cost of its failures).—
Franklin Foer,
The Atlantic,
28 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Invective.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/invective. Accessed 21 Sep. 2025.
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