inveigh

verb

in·​veigh in-ˈvā How to pronounce inveigh (audio)
inveighed; inveighing; inveighs

intransitive verb

: to protest or complain bitterly or vehemently : rail
inveigher noun

Did you know?

It's all well and good to complain, kvetch, gripe, or grumble about whatever happens to be vexing you, but for a stronger effect, we suggest inveighing against it. (You'll almost always want to include the against, by the way.) Inveigh was borrowed with its meaning from the Latin verb invehi (invehi can also mean "to attack"), which is also a form of invehere, meaning "to carry in." Another invehere descendant is the closely-related noun invective, which refers to insulting or abusive language. Nota bene: it's not necessary to hurl invective when inveighing against what irks you.

Examples of inveigh in a Sentence

always inveighing against the high property taxes that they were forced to pay
Recent Examples on the Web Prabowo has also inveighed more openly than Jokowi ever did against the West’s hypocrisy on democracy and human rights. Ben Bland, Foreign Affairs, 13 Feb. 2024 Meanwhile, pro-Taliban women have held a countermarch, and a group wearing niqabs — a conservative face veil showing only their eyes — sat in a Kabul University lecture hall on Saturday to hear speakers inveigh against the liberal women who protested earlier in the week. BostonGlobe.com, 12 Sep. 2021 Surgeon General Everett Koop issued a 1982 report showing that 30 percent of all cancer deaths were attributable to smoking, and used his bully pulpit to inveigh against the hazards of secondhand smoke. Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 29 Apr. 2022 Last weekend, Donald Trump held a rally in Ohio, in large part to inveigh against a congressman: Anthony Gonzalez, a Republican. Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 1 July 2021 The president only did what so many previous European and American leaders have done, draping themselves in the mantle of culture to inveigh against an amorphous other. Kanishk Tharoor, The New Republic, 22 Feb. 2021 Democrats and the media will inveigh that if a vote has shown up, it should be counted. Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, 3 Nov. 2020 The attorney general went on, in his characteristically dry tone, to inveigh against attempts by American progressives to use the law to punish religious people for holding views that offend the latest liberal consensus. Barton Swaim, WSJ, 20 Nov. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'inveigh.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Latin invehi to attack, inveigh, passive of invehere to carry in, from in- + vehere to carry — more at way

First Known Use

1529, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of inveigh was in 1529

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Dictionary Entries Near inveigh

Cite this Entry

“Inveigh.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inveigh. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

inveigh

verb
in·​veigh in-ˈvā How to pronounce inveigh (audio)
: to protest or complain bitterly

More from Merriam-Webster on inveigh

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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