obloquy •
\AH-bluh-kwee\ • noun 1 : a strongly condemnatory utterance : abusive
language 2 : the condition of one that is
discredited : bad repute
Examples:The manager
walked quickly back to the dugout as insults and obloquy rained
down
from the stands.
"Because of the
stigma associated with drug convictions, such an indictment could be tantamount
to a life sentence of obloquy in terms of future employment." — Floral
Park Dispatch, January 15, 2014
Did you know? English
speakers can choose from several synonyms to name a tongue-lashing. Abuse is a
good general term that usually stresses the anger of the speaker and the
harshness of the language, as in "scathing verbal abuse." Vituperation
often specifies fluent, sustained abuse; "a torrent of vituperation"
is a typical use of this term. Invective implies vehemence comparable to
vituperation, but may suggest greater verbal and rhetorical skill; it may also
apply especially to a public denunciation, as in "blistering political
invective." Obloquy, which comes from the Late Latin ob- (meaning
"against") plus loqui (meaning "to speak"), suggests
defamation and consequent shame and disgrace; a typical example of its use would be "subjected to obloquy and
derision."
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