Philippic

American  

[fi-lip-ik] / fɪˈlɪp ɪk /

noun

1. any of the orations delivered by Demosthenes, the Athenian orator, in the 4th century b.c., against Philip, king of Macedon.

2. any of the 14 orations delivered by Cicero against Marc Antony (44-43 b.c.).

3. (lowercase) any speech or discourse of bitter denunciation.

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philippic British  

/ fɪˈlɪpɪk /

noun

1. a bitter or impassioned speech of denunciation; invective

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Etymology

Origin of Philippic

First recorded in 1560–70; from Latin Philippicus, from Greek Philippikós; Philip, -ic

Example Sentences

If he be blamed because his Philippic was anonymous, how do the anonymous writers of to-day escape?

From The Life of Cicero Volume II. by Trollope, Anthony

Plutarch makes no special mention of the second Philippic.

From The Life of Cicero Volume II. by Trollope, Anthony

In his Philippic Orations he gave full vent to his bitter hatred of Antony and so aroused the latter’s undying enmity.

From A History of Rome to 565 A. D. by Boak, Arthur Edward Romilly

Never was there a finer opportunity for the display of eloquence, than what was afforded to Cicero on this occasion; of which he most gloriously availed himself in the fourteenth Philippic.

From History of Roman Literature from its Earliest Period to the Augustan Age. Volume II by Dunlop, John

The speech against Boeotus “Concerning the Name” comes between the First Philippic and the First Olynthiac.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 2 "Demijohn" to "Destructor" by Various