billingsgate

Synonym Chooser

How is the word billingsgate distinct from other similar nouns?

Some common synonyms of billingsgate are abuse, invective, obloquy, and vituperation. While all these words mean "vehemently expressed condemnation or disapproval," billingsgate implies practiced fluency and variety of profane or obscene abuse.

directed a stream of billingsgate at the cabdriver

When is abuse a more appropriate choice than billingsgate?

The synonyms abuse and billingsgate are sometimes interchangeable, but abuse, the most general term, usually implies the anger of the speaker and stresses the harshness of the language.

scathing verbal abuse

In what contexts can invective take the place of billingsgate?

In some situations, the words invective and billingsgate are roughly equivalent. However, invective implies a comparable vehemence but suggests greater verbal and rhetorical skill and may apply to a public denunciation.

blistering political invective

When could obloquy be used to replace billingsgate?

The words obloquy and billingsgate are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, obloquy suggests defamation and consequent shame and disgrace.

subjected to obloquy and derision

Where would vituperation be a reasonable alternative to billingsgate?

While in some cases nearly identical to billingsgate, vituperation implies fluent and sustained abuse.

a torrent of vituperation

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for billingsgate
Noun
  • Testimony detail years of heavy drug abuse, and he is found guilty a week later.
    Karissa Waddick, USA TODAY, 5 Nov. 2024
  • Critics warn of potential abuse and the possibility of a black market.
    Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2024
Noun
  • There was also the larger error of anointing Harris without political competition — an insult to the democratic process that handed the nomination to a candidate who, as some of us warned at the time, was exceptionally weak.
    Bret Stephens, The Mercury News, 7 Nov. 2024
  • But what garnered the most attention were a comedian’s insults of Puerto Rico, Trump’s violent rhetoric about a political opponent and a comment about women.
    Rebecca Picciotto, CNBC, 3 Nov. 2024
Noun
  • But the invective obscured a salient truth: many people were still unclear about where Harris stood on some of the central issues.
    Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2024
  • But over the weekend his invective was turned directly on Navarro.
    Tom Tapp, Deadline, 16 Sep. 2024
Noun
  • 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
  • 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
Noun
  • That criticism has sometimes veered toward threats against company executives and political figures.
    William Gavin, Quartz, 8 Nov. 2024
  • It's repeatedly faced harsh criticism over its failure to curb child abuse on the platform.
    Jibin Joseph, PCMAG, 7 Nov. 2024
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Thesaurus Entries Near billingsgate

Cite this Entry

“Billingsgate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/billingsgate. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

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