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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of invective
Lauren Elkin, New York Times, 20 May 2025
Oilers fans booed the American national anthem, and one woman used a lull to shout an invective about Mr. Trump.
—John Branch, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2025
Brian Steinberg, Variety, 28 Apr. 2025
Photo: YouTube Cummings is known as a roast comic, an artist of invective.
—Kerry Howley, Vulture, 24 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for invective
Noun
Mike the promoter and his right-hand man, Shorty, a person with dwarfism who comes in for page after page of ableist invective.
—Lauren Elkin, New York Times, 20 May 2025
Oilers fans booed the American national anthem, and one woman used a lull to shout an invective about Mr. Trump.
—John Branch, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2025
Adjective
In the same year, Disney’s ESPN had to contend with host Pat McAfee, a rambunctious host, hurling invective at a former senior executive, Norby Williamson, who the host alleged had tried to sabotage his program.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 28 Apr. 2025
Photo: YouTube Cummings is known as a roast comic, an artist of invective.
—Kerry Howley, Vulture, 24 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for invective
Recent Examples of Synonyms for invective
Noun
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Christy Corcoran, a nearby homeowner who took part in the camp cleanup, said the animal abuse is a sign of the bad actors who can swarm to large homeless camps.—
Jordan Smith,
IndyStar,
26 July 2025
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Victoria Caldwell and Stubblefield pleaded guilty to evidence tampering and abuse of a corpse, and Burton and Caldwell entered Alford pleas to abuse of a corpse and second-degree manslaughter — while Burton also pleaded as such to tampering with evidence.—
Brenna Ehrlich,
Rolling Stone,
25 July 2025
Adjective
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The women's arrests uncovered a pattern of abusive teaching by Hildebrandt, and confirmed growing suspicions of critics who long questioned Franke’s strict parenting style on her popular 8 Passengers family vlogging page on YouTube.—
Sean Neumann,
People.com,
28 July 2025
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Christopher McDonald, as Happy’s nemesis Scooter McGavin, and Ben Stiller, as abusive orderly Hal L, have also returned.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
26 July 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
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And then, especially in the past several years, friends who stayed say: Honestly, this is kind of insulting—the way people keep talking about Lebanon from afar.—
Sahar Delijani
July 17,
Literary Hub,
17 July 2025
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The deliberate and insulting call-out immediately sent the wrestling world into a frenzy.—
Andrew Ravens,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 July 2025
Noun
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To say that a two-hour daily commute both ways from Fredericksburg, Va., to Towson will not have any impact on her performance is arrogant on its face and an insult to those (voters) who have to hear it.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
2 Aug. 2025
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Dimon and Trump have scuffled over multiple topics over the years, and the insults have been personal.—
Matt Egan,
CNN Money,
31 July 2025
Adjective
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The world is still a familiar one: Patricia Field’s styling ghost haunts every outrageous outfit choice and Carrie’s heels still clack satisfyingly on the sidewalk.—
Lily Ford,
HollywoodReporter,
23 July 2025
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For all his outrageous behavior and near-fatal travails, much of Osbourne’s appeal stemmed from his everyman persona as a working-class-hero-turned-multimillionaire who couldn’t believe his good luck.—
George Varga,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
23 July 2025
Noun
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Ferrucci, the journalism professor, dismissed both criticisms.—
Shelly Bradbury,
Denver Post,
1 Aug. 2025
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The brand has spoken out after a week of online discourse and criticism.—
Mekishana Pierre,
EW.com,
1 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Transcripts of the depositions conducted by utility lawyers were made public Friday in Superior Court and hundreds of pages of questions and answers suggest questions about who contributed what to the vituperative oped may never be answered to everyone’s satisfaction.—
Edmund H. Mahony,
Hartford Courant,
25 July 2025
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On Wednesday, the President faced a barrage of ominous developments that might have fazed another leader—a worrisome jobs report, losses in federal court related to four of his signature policies, an increasingly vituperative public breakup with Elon Musk.—
Susan B. Glasser,
New Yorker,
5 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Invective.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/invective. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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