PHILIPPIC Synonyms: 58 Similar and Opposite Words

philippic

noun

fə-ˈli-pik

Definition of philippic

as in jeremiad

a long angry speech or scolding the head coach was briefly suspended after launching into a foul-mouthed philippic during a press conference

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of philippic The Atlantic’s second issue included a thunderous philippic of some 7,600 words on the relentless encroachments of slavery and the fate of the Republic. — Jake Lundberg, The Atlantic, 12 Feb. 2026 How not to hear in his philippic the traces of an OCD inscribed in our cultural DNA, a sanctimony that launched the archetypal act of avoidance that forms our origin myth? — Andrew Kay, Harpers Magazine, 28 May 2025 The poet’s occasional philippics against capitalist excess are hard to distinguish from postwar politics, when former allies became lethal enemies, while in America the Red Scare of McCarthyism loomed. — William Logan, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2025 While its always welcome to see additional news outlets in the battle for truth, justice and the American way, this philippic certainly doesn’t deserve to be taken seriously as a dispenser of information. — Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 19 Sep. 2022

Recent Examples of Synonyms for philippic

Noun

Kelaidis reads their popularity as evidence that historical scholarship has become a kind of liberal jeremiad, offering moral reassurance through historical analogy.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 July 2026
The question, of course, is what we are supposed to do with these bourgeois jeremiads against bourgeois civilization, beyond enjoying them as high-end primal-scream therapy.

— Alex Ross, New Yorker, 15 June 2026

Definition of jeremiad

Noun

Design After endless diatribes about the quirky lines of Ferrari’s all-electric Luce, the marque’s enthusiasts will find that the Amalfi Spider’s long-hood, raked-screen, and open-top lines are comfortingly familiar and unquestionably gorgeous.

— Howard Walker, Robb Report, 7 Aug. 2026
Thank you, Kat Timpf, for speaking up against Greg Gutfeld’s hateful, pointless and incorrect diatribe about cats and the people who give them a home.

— Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 5 Aug. 2026

Definition of diatribe

Noun

But the lobbyist has doubled down on her criticism of McCuskey in a recent letter to Illinois’ four top legislative leaders and obtained by the Tribune.

— Jeremy Gorner, Chicago Tribune, 29 Aug. 2026
The sharpest criticism of the deal came from Venezuelan opposition figures, who argue that a caretaker administration installed after a foreign military operation has no standing to sign away a century of oil rights.

— Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 29 Aug. 2026

Definition of criticism

Noun

Stephen Adly Guirgis, a New York playwright who specializes in urban pressure-cooker dramas, has a gift for writing subway strap-hanger harangues.

— Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2026
The Americans were prepared for a lecture from Russia’s longtime foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, who is well known for his tedious harangues.

— Michael Crowley, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2025

Definition of harangue

Noun

Flipping the lecture cycle Classically, engineering courses default to hours of lectures where students are expected to take notes, with problem sets and exams bolted on.

— Jason Corso, Time, 26 Aug. 2026
As YouTube faces heightened scrutiny in Brussels, the lecture also had some lobbying purposes.

— Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of lecture

Browse Nearby Words

philharmonics

philippic

philippics

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“Philippic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/philippic. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of philippic

noun

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