jeremiad

[ jer-uh-mahy-uhd, -ad ]

noun

1. a prolonged lamentation or mournful complaint.

jeremiad

/ ˌdʒɛrɪˈmaɪəd /

noun

1. a long mournful lamentation or complaint

Word History and Origins

Origin of jeremiad¹

1770–80; Jeremi(ah) + -ad ¹ in reference to Jeremiah's Lamentations

Example Sentences

This wasn't far from assessments CNN contributors made Friday morning following the ex-president and current felon's rambling jeremiad.

From Salon

Then he launched into a jeremiad against “the modern woke feminists destroying every part of our society.”

From Slate

In the 1960s, a surge in crash deaths, a series of Senate hearings, and the explosive publication of Unsafe at Any Speed, Ralph Nader’s jeremiad against the car industry, led to the creation of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the enactment of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, and the establishment of road safety as a federal responsibility.

From Slate

Those who have felt drawn to this controversy, and found summaries of the letter in some way attractive, should read the entire thing and ask themselves these questions: Is the conflict that bin Laden tried to incite—and that killed 3,000 of your fellow Americans—really worth your “unshakable bond”? Does this death-cult jeremiad justify overhauling your entire worldview?

From Slate

Although Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping, Hungary’s Viktor Orban, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Britain’s Boris Johnson make cameo appearances in Wolf’s analysis, it is Donald Trump who casts the shadow over Wolf’s jeremiad, and most of his narrative and analysis focuses on the United States.

From Washington Post

Related Words

• diatribe
• screed