diatribe

noun

di·​a·​tribe ˈdī-ə-ˌtrīb 

1

: a bitter and abusive speech or piece of writing

2

: ironic or satirical criticism

3

archaic : a prolonged discourse

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History of Diatribe

In modern times, a diatribe is not something most of us want to endure:

Our manager privately subjected a few of us to a lengthy diatribe about how terrible the company's new policy is.

I'd prefer a reasoned argument to the diatribes that typically litter the newspaper's editorial page.

That wasn't true in the word's early days, though.

When English speakers adopted diatribe in the late 16th century, they were glancing back at the ancients. The word comes from Greek diatribē, meaning "pastime" or "discourse," by way of Latin diatriba. The English word first referred to the popular lectures of ancient Greek and Roman philosophers, the usual topic of which was ethics.

When the word diatribe referred to written work in this context, that work was understood to be either a transcription of such a lecture, or a written development of one. According to some, these oral and written diatribes were the model on which modern sermons were built.

Over time, this very specific meaning of diatribe developed a more general meaning that didn't require the ancients themselves: any prolonged discourse—written or oral—could be considered a diatribe. That sense of the word, however, is now archaic; you don't typically find it in modern contexts.

When diatribe is used today, the connotation is quite different. The word most often refers to a bitter or abusive speech or piece of writing, as in the examples given above.

Synonyms

• harangue
• jeremiad
• philippic
• rant
• tirade

Examples of diatribe in a Sentence

… his apparent inability to keep his pen from drifting from the main objective of his words into diatribe must have taken away from the sound and otherwise convincing arguments that he advanced. —Henry Petroski, Engineers of Dreams, 1995

I looked … and listened to her ahistorical and apolitical diatribe. Her comments were a more extreme form of the kind of Black bashing I've often heard … —Itabari Njeri, "Sushi and Grits," in Lure and Loathing,  1993

… gradually I realize the headman's diatribe has begun to feature a new term I was unfamiliar with at the time—the word for caterpillar, as it turns out, in the Iban dialect. —T. Coraghessan Boyle, Harper's, April 1993

The article is a diatribe against mainstream media.

a bitter diatribe about how unfair the tax system is

Recent Examples on the Web

Incidentally, Gutierrez must surely now hold the show’s record for most f-words emphatically uttered in a single diatribe, and that’s saying something. —Andy Andersen, Vulture, 10 Nov. 2024

Teachers denounced homosexuality in classroom diatribes while looking directly at him. —John Blake, CNN, 3 Nov. 2024

His notoriously pornographic breakthrough novel, The Elementary Particles, trafficked in masturbation, flashing, orgies, and child rape but really amounted to a diatribe against a godless materialism. —Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 24 Oct. 2024

The diatribe culminated in one of the event’s loudest applauses—when Trump pledged to pursue capital punishment against murderous migrants. —Eric Cortellessa / Gastonia, TIME, 3 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Latin diatriba, from Greek diatribē pastime, discourse, from diatribein to spend (time), wear away, from dia- + tribein to rub — more at throw entry 1

First Known Use

1581, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Kids Definition

diatribe

noun

di·​a·​tribe ˈdī-ə-ˌtrīb 

: a bitter or angry attack in speech or writing