philippic

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See also: Philippic

English

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Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin philippicus, from Ancient Greek φιλιππικός (philippikós), from Φίλιππος (Phílippos, lover of horses), from φίλος (phílos, loving) + ἵππος (híppos, horse).

Pronunciation

Noun

philippic (plural philippics)

  1. Any of the discourses of Demosthenes against Philip II of Macedon, defending the liberty of Athens.
    • 1869, Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad, Chapter XXXII, page 348:
      [] the Bema, from whence Demosthenes thundered his philippics and fired the wavering patriotism of his countrymen.
  2. (by extension) Any tirade or declamation full of bitter condemnation.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:diatribe
    • 1811, [Jane Austen], chapter XII, in Sense and Sensibility [], volume II, London: [] C[harles] Roworth, [], and published by T[homas] Egerton, [], →OCLC, page 234:
      Mrs. Ferrars looked exceedingly angry, and drawing herself up more stiffly than ever, pronounced in retort this bitter phillipic; “Miss Morton is Lord Morton’s daughter.”
    • 1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXXVII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. [], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, [], →OCLC, page 172:
      "Sir Robert Akhurst is a good man, a very good man, notwithstanding his philippic; but he is an old one, which makes all the difference."
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    • 2017 September 7, Ferdinand Mount, “Umbrageousness”, in London Review of Books[1]:
      As a young man, Lytton Strachey admired Hastings and wrote a long thesis on him, while dismissing Burke as ‘an ignorant enthusiast’. What strikes me on rereading those great philippics is, on the contrary, their exactness and perceptiveness.

Translations