orate

American  

[aw-reyt, oh-reyt, awr-eyt, ohr-eyt] / ɔˈreɪt, oʊˈreɪt, ˈɔr eɪt, ˈoʊr eɪt /

verb (used with or without object)

orated, orating

1. to deliver an oration; speak pompously; declaim.

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orate British  

/ ɔːˈreɪt /

verb

1. to make or give an oration

2. to speak pompously and lengthily

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Etymology

Origin of orate

First recorded in 1590–1600; back formation from oration

Explanation

To orate is to give an important-sounding speech. If you're giving a wedding toast, feel free to orate. However, if you're giving a friend advice, it's best to avoid orating. There are more and less appropriate situations in which to orate: a famous philosophy professor might be forgiven if she tends to orate when she's speaking about her favorite subject, Spinoza. But if you're at the dinner table, your family will probably just laugh at you if you begin a speech with Mark Antony's words from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!"The Latin root orare means "speak, pray, or plead."

Example Sentences

Politicians orate, American flags proliferate and, even more than usual, many windows on the world are tinted red, white and blue.

From Salon • Jul. 4, 2023

Neville told Rosner that there were three lines of dialogue that he wanted Bourdain’s voice to orate, but he couldn’t find previous audio to string together or make it work otherwise.

From The Verge • Jul. 15, 2021

The new leader of Britain’s House of Commons, known for his orate rhetoric and affinity for tradition, has issued a painstaking list of grammar and etiquette for his staff.

From Fox News • Jul. 27, 2019

For the next half hour, Valentino Dixon will stand on the courthouse steps and orate for TV cameras, and I hear the same lines from his letters.

From Golf Digest • Dec. 6, 2018

That’s one of the reasons a writer should mutter, mumble, or orate a draft of his prose to himself, ideally after enough time has elapsed that it is no longer familiar.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker