billingsgate

Synonym Chooser

How is the word billingsgate distinct from other similar nouns?

Some common synonyms of billingsgate are abuse, invective, obloquy, and vituperation. While all these words mean "vehemently expressed condemnation or disapproval," billingsgate implies practiced fluency and variety of profane or obscene abuse.

directed a stream of billingsgate at the cabdriver

When is abuse a more appropriate choice than billingsgate?

The synonyms abuse and billingsgate are sometimes interchangeable, but abuse, the most general term, usually implies the anger of the speaker and stresses the harshness of the language.

scathing verbal abuse

In what contexts can invective take the place of billingsgate?

In some situations, the words invective and billingsgate are roughly equivalent. However, invective implies a comparable vehemence but suggests greater verbal and rhetorical skill and may apply to a public denunciation.

blistering political invective

When could obloquy be used to replace billingsgate?

The words obloquy and billingsgate are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, obloquy suggests defamation and consequent shame and disgrace.

subjected to obloquy and derision

Where would vituperation be a reasonable alternative to billingsgate?

While in some cases nearly identical to billingsgate, vituperation implies fluent and sustained abuse.

a torrent of vituperation

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for billingsgate
Noun
  • Her publisher tried to stop selling the book after the abuse allegations were revealed.
    Olivia Lloyd, Miami Herald, 14 Jan. 2025
  • Local News Hill faces felony elder abuse charges, but a judge agreed with attorneys that the trial should not start this month as previously scheduled.
    Ryan Gillespie, Orlando Sentinel, 14 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • This is a dangerous conflation and an insult to women who choose to cook.
    Mina Holland, Vogue, 11 Jan. 2025
  • This can be through verbal insults, physical acts like slapping and spitting, or openly degrading someone by telling them to perform humiliating tasks (say, drinking a random glass of milk in front of your work colleagues).
    Fran Tirado, Them, 10 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Squabbling coaches — Tindall had put his fingers to his lips to hush Unai Emery after Duran’s departure, earning invective in response — added to the sense of renaissance.
    George Caulkin, The Athletic, 27 Dec. 2024
  • Police officers have been injured, spit on and had objects hurled at them, the same invective screamed at them as the insurrectionists screamed at the Capitol Police on Jan. 6.
    Jeff Robbins, Boston Herald, 10 June 2024
Noun
  • Flash forward 92-plus years to Donald Trump’s rally Sunday at New York’s Madison Square Garden, a bleak, lurid festival of racist hate and profane vituperation so vile that even fellow Republicans, who have turned a blind eye to Trump’s character for years, are distancing themselves from the event.
    Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2024
  • The politicization of the COVID response has only worsened this trend, likely resulting in part from Trump’s vituperation.
    Matt Motta, Scientific American, 29 Oct. 2024
Noun
  • The criticism is somewhat reminiscent of Texans slamming Sen. Ted Cruz for fleeing to Cancun during a statewide freeze and power loss disaster in 2021.
    James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Jan. 2025
  • Meta is removing employee criticism over its hiring of UFC CEO Dana White from an internal company messaging system.
    Makena Kelly, WIRED, 9 Jan. 2025
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.

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Thesaurus Entries Near billingsgate

Cite this Entry

“Billingsgate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/billingsgate. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.

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