denunciation

[ dih-nuhn-see-ey-shuhn, -shee- ]

noun

1. an act or instance of denouncing; public censure or condemnation.
2. an accusation of crime before a public prosecutor or tribunal.
3. notice of the termination or the renouncement of an international agreement or part thereof.
4. Archaic. warning of impending evil; threat.

denunciation

/ dɪˌnʌnsɪˈeɪʃən /

noun

1. open condemnation; censure; denouncing
2. obsolete.
   law a charge or accusation of crime made by an individual before a public prosecutor or tribunal
3. a formal announcement of the termination of a treaty
4. archaic.
   an announcement in the form of an impending threat or warning

Other Words From

• nonde·nunci·ation noun
• over·de·nunci·ation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of denunciation¹

1540–50; < Latin dēnuntiātiōn- (stem of dēnuntiātiō ), equivalent to dēnuntiāt ( us ) ( denunciate ) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

The incident prompted denunciations from rights groups who have long condemned Mexican authorities for doing what they call “America’s dirty work” by detaining U.S.-bound migrants and often transporting them back to southern Mexico.

From Los Angeles Times

We should not kid ourselves that denunciation is only possible in Putin’s Russia.

From BBC

For all of the boilerplate conservative denunciations of bureaucratic structures, capitalists observed their effectiveness in government structures and therefore applied them to their private businesses.

From Salon

What would we say about claims that students in the North with Southern accents should not have been made uncomfortable by on-campus civil rights protests and denunciations of Jim Crow in the 1950s and 1960s?

From Salon

Heading into this vote, far-right parties have become adept at marrying hard-line stances such as climate change skepticism or harsh denunciation of migrants with popular or palatable causes.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• accusation
• censure
• denouncement
• indictment
• invective
• reprimand