declaim
Americanverb (used without object)
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to speak aloud in an oratorical manner; make a formal speech.
Brutus declaimed from the steps of the Roman senate building.
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to inveigh (usually followed byagainst ).
He declaimed against the high rents in slums.
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to speak or write for oratorical effect, as without sincerity or sound argument.
verb (used with object)
verb
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to make (a speech, statement, etc) loudly and in a rhetorical manner
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to speak lines from (a play, poem, etc) with studied eloquence; recite
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to protest (against) loudly and publicly
Other Word Forms
- declaimer noun
- undeclaimed adjective
- undeclaiming adjective
Etymology
Origin of declaim
1350–1400; Middle English declamen < Latin dēclāmāre, equivalent to dē- de- + clāmāre to cry, shout; claim
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
As interviewees chatter and declaim, Macdonald regularly cuts to runway imagery, which is certainly more enjoyable than enduring Galliano’s prejudices.
From New York Times • Mar. 7, 2024
Brook loved to declaim that he had no answers, because there are no answers.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 26, 2022
“The folding type of this cooling device became accepted in China during the Ming dynasty,” Mr. Trebek might declaim, as competitors raced to buzz in with the reply, “What is a fan?”
From Washington Post • Nov. 8, 2020
You may use this page to declaim loudly, recite verse, or pursue areas of freewheeling, off topic discourse.
From Slate • Jun. 29, 2020
His douceurs were nought but such as an artillery marshal might declaim.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
