Dictionary

diatribe en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈdaɪ.əˌtɹaɪb/
• dīˈ -ə-trībˌ
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ ▲ Proto-Indo-European *trísinflu. Proto-Indo-European *dwísder. Ancient Greek διά (diá) Ancient Greek δῐᾰ- (dĭă-) Proto-Indo-European *terh₁-der. Ancient Greek τρῑ́βω (trī́bō) Ancient Greek δῐᾰτρῑ́βω (dĭătrī́bō) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-ā́ Ancient Greek -ᾱ (-ā) Ancient Greek -η (-ē) Ancient Greek δῐᾰτρῐβή (dĭătrĭbḗ)der. Latin diatribader. French diatribebor. English diatribe First attested 1581, borrowed from French diatribe, from Latin diatriba (“learned discussion or discourse”), from Ancient Greek διατριβή (diatribḗ, “way of spending time, lecture”), from διά (diá, “through”) + τρίβω (tríbō, “to waste, wear out”)

Meanings

1. An abusive, bitter verbal or written attack, criticism or denunciation.
   • to throw a diatribe
   • Aunt Petunia wasn’t eating anything at all. Her arms were folded, her lips were pursed and she seemed to be chewing her tongue, as though biting back the furious diatribe she longed to throw at Harry. 2000 July 8, J. K. Rowling [pseudonym; Joanne Rowling], “Back to the Burrow”, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter; 4), London: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 40:
   • “… No rogue e’er felt the halter draw, with a good opinion of the law, and perhaps my own detestation of the law arises from my having frequently broken it. If this long diatribe bores you, just say so, and I’ll cut it short.” 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad:
   • The senator was prone to diatribes which could go on for more than an hour.
   • You know, it’s all this racial diatribe, and very strong language, screaming at the top of his lungs into the telephone. 1991, Bill Crow, Jazz Anecdotes, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 316:
   • Lest this [be] read as a diatribe against DfT, I have some sympathy with it. That's because whenever there's a problem with the railway, the industry's solution is to ask DfT for billions of pounds. 2021 May 5, Philip Haigh, “I think we need better than this from the rail industry”, in RAIL, number 930, page 51:
2. A prolonged discourse; a long-winded speech.

Forms

Deriveds

diatribical · diatribist · diatribism · diatribal

Hypernyms

speech

Relateds

offend · deride · dispute

Synonyms

dithyramb · j'accuse · impugnation · condemnation · screed · tirade · diatribe · philippic · jeremiad · rant · polemic · harangue · slanging match · admonition

Translations (38)

cs diatriba (prolonged discourse) · it diatriba (prolonged discourse) · grc διατριβή (bitter denunciation) · nl tirade (bitter denunciation) · sv stridsskrift (bitter denunciation) · ru диатри́ба (prolonged discourse) · de Suada (prolonged discourse) · cs (slovní) výpad (bitter denunciation) · fr diatribe (prolonged discourse) · sv utläggning (prolonged discourse) · ru диатри́ба (bitter denunciation) · it diatriba (bitter denunciation) · es diatriba (prolonged discourse) · el καταγγελία (bitter denunciation) · ru обличительная речь (bitter denunciation) · it arringa (prolonged discourse) · pt diatribe (prolonged discourse) · es diatriba (bitter denunciation) · nl tirade (prolonged discourse) · sv utfall (bitter denunciation) · ro diatriba (prolonged discourse) · pt diatribe (bitter denunciation) · cs diatriba (bitter denunciation) · sv angrepp (bitter denunciation) · de Hetze (bitter denunciation) · cs jízlivost (bitter denunciation) · fr diatribe (bitter denunciation) · it concione (prolonged discourse) · grc διατριβή (prolonged discourse) · hu gyalázkodás (bitter denunciation) · fi vuodatus (bitter denunciation) · io diatribo (prolonged discourse) · de Hetzschrift (bitter denunciation) · de Hetzrede (bitter denunciation) · ro diatribă (bitter denunciation) · el διατριβή (prolonged discourse) · de Ausfall (bitter denunciation) · de gehässiger Angriff (bitter denunciation)