objurgation means A strong rebuke or scolding. It carries an Arena rating of 1698, earned across 66 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, objurgation ranks #492 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #2,817 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #3,587 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #3,631 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound.
Why “objurgation” is a great word
OBJURGATION — [Noun] A harsh and vehement rebuke or scolding. From Latin obiūrgō, obiūrgāre ("to chide, rebuke"), from ob- ("against") + iūrgō, iūrgāre ("to quarrel, scold"). First attested in English before 1500. Unlike an admonition, a gentle warning, or a castigation, a severe and often public punishment, an objurgation is the raw, scouring force of the voice unleashed. It is the headmaster’s voice cracking like a whip across a silent hall, the corrosive hiss of a superior’s contempt, the cold, precise litany of faults delivered in a room gone still—language weaponized not to correct, but to scour the soul.
Etymology
From Latin obiūrgō.
noun
- A strong rebuke or scolding.e.g.“Nevertheless, spite of this imperial objurgation, the short cloaks continued in fashion down to the time of which we treat, and particularly among the princes of the House of Anjou.” — 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter XIV, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robins
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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