inveigh means to complain loudly, to give voice to one's censure or criticism. It carries an Arena rating of 1825, earned across 44 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, inveigh ranks #20 of 13,223 for Most Malleable Words, #403 of 13,223 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #473 of 13,223 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #661 of 13,223 for Most Ingenious Words.
inveigh is pronounced /ɪnˈveɪ/.
Why “inveigh” is a great word
INVEIGH — [Verb] To speak or write with strong hostility, protest, or bitter complaint against a person or thing. From the Latin invehī ("to be carried into, to attack"), passive infinitive of invehere, from in- ("into, against") + vehere ("to carry"). Unlike "criticize," which suggests a general and often dispassionate disapproval, or "inveigle," which lures by flattery, to inveigh is to be swept forward as a vehicle for one's own wrath. It is the talk-radio host sputtering into the microphone, the editorialist's pen scratching vitriol across the page, and the raw-throated chant from the barricade—a verbal assault launched from the very current that carries it, anger as an act of transport.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin invehō (“bring in, carry in”), from in- + vehō (“carry”). Compare vehicle, invective.
verb
- To complain loudly, to give voice to one's censure or criticism“Very largely haue I inueighed againſt this vice [gluttony] elſvvhere, vvherefore heere I vvill truſſe it vp more ſurcinct;^([sic – meaning succinct]) […]”
- To draw in or away; to entice, inveigle.“He is a Spirit, that inveighs away a Man from himself, undertakes great Matters for him, and after fells him for a Slave.”
Words closest in meaning
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