obloquy means abusive language. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 76 out of 100.
obloquy is pronounced /ˈɒbləˌkwi/.
Why “obloquy” is a great word
OBLOQUY — [Noun] Public disgrace brought about by sustained abusive speech or slander. From Late Latin obloquium (“contradiction”), from Latin obloquor (“to speak against, contradict”), from ob- (“against”) + loqui (“to speak”). Unlike "calumny," which is a specific, malicious falsehood, or "opprobrium," which names the resulting state of scorn, obloquy is the entire storm: both the downpour of invective and the floodwaters of shame it leaves behind. It is the hiss of a crowd turning its back, the indelible stain whispered in corridors, the relentless corrosion of a standing until only a silhouette of disgrace remains—a monument built not from stone, but from spoken ruin.
noun
- Abusive language.“It is surprising, therefore, that this philosophy, which, in almost every instance, must be harmless and innocent, should be the subject of so much groundless reproach and obloquy.”
- Disgrace.“Her death I could have born, but the death of her honour has added obloquy and shame to that sorrow which bends my grey hairs to the dust!”
- A false accusation; malevolent rumors.“It is as cruel as the grave to any man, when he knows his own rectitude of conduct, to have his hard services not only debased and underrated. But the Revolutionary soldiers are not the only people that endure obloquy.”