Word of the Day

: December 2, 2013

inveigh

verb in-VAY

What It Means

: to protest or complain bitterly or vehemently : rail

inveigh in Context

Several property owners wrote letters to the paper inveighing against the high property taxes that they are required to pay.

"The anti-mine forces recruited personalities such as filmmaker and actor Robert Redford to inveigh against the project; companies such as Tiffany & Co. and Zale Corp. and dozens of others signed pledges to boycott the mine's products…." - From an article by James Greiff in the Anchorage Daily News, October 2, 2013

Did You Know?

You might complain or grumble about some wrong you see, or, for a stronger effect, you can "inveigh" against it. "Inveigh" comes from the Latin verb "invehere," which joins the prefix "in-" with the verb "vehere," meaning "to carry." "Invehere" literally means "to carry in," and when "inveigh" first appeared in English, it was also used to mean "to carry in" or "to introduce." Extended meanings of "invehere," however, are "to force one's way into," "attack," and "to assail with words," and that's where the current sense of "inveigh" comes from. A closely related word is "invective," which means "insulting or abusive language." This word, too, ultimately comes from "invehere."