declaim
/dɪˈkleɪm/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.57 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To recite, e.g., poetry, in a theatrical way; to speak for rhetorical display; to speak pompously, noisily, or theatrically; bemouth; to make an empty speech; to rehearse trite arguments in debate; to rant.
Intransitive verb
verb
To speak rhetorically; to make a formal speech or oration; specifically, to recite a speech, poem, etc., in public as a rhetorical exercise; to practice public speaking.
Intransitive verb
Example Sentences
- "Grenville seized the opportunity to declaim on the repeal of the stamp act."
- "The students declaim twice a week."
- "Their love had gone too far on occasion: praying to those pictures and then sliding to worship those drawings as pagans had once worshiped idols. Many priests declaimed the practice and warned that the people were violating God's first commandment against false idols."
- "Declaiming such practices, Baskaran writes: 'The flow of the film would not be affected in the least if song sequences were excised, wholly or partly'"
- "American leaders found it difficult to attack Soviet injustices and demand equality and the rule of law worldwide when African Americans endured systematic segregation throughout much of the nation. Facing Soviet propaganda that declaimed such hypocrisy, and fearful it would alter the status of the Cold War enabling the Soviets to lure African, Asian, and Middle Eastern states into their orbit […]"
- "He now declaimed having intended any thing disrespectful to the Senate in the expression he had used."
Etymology
From Middle French declamer, from Latin dēclāmō.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *kelh₁-, declamer, dēclāmō
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /dɪˈkleɪm/