Word of the Day Archive
Thursday April 14, 2005

obloquy \OB-luh-kwee\ , noun:
1. Strongly condemnatory or abusive language or utterance.
2. The condition of disgrace suffered as a result of public blame, abuse, or condemnation; ill repute.

There he remained, weeping indignantly at her stream of obloquy, bitterly ashamed of his tears, until it was time for supper.
-- Jonathan Keates, Stendhal

Once installed in office he earned near-universal obloquy by pushing through the biggest tax increase in the state's history.
-- Dan Seligman, "The Taxophiliacs", Forbes, February 5, 2001

For Britain to have made a last imperial stand on the shores of the South China Sea would have risked local calamity and international obloquy.
-- Christopher Patten, East and West

Get Word of the Day on your iPhone or iPod touch »


Download the FREE Dictionary.com app

Obloquy derives from Latin obloqui, "to speak against," from ob-, "against" + loqui, "to speak."

Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for obloquy

 

AddThis:  AddThis: del.icio.usAddThis: digg.comAddThis: FacebookAddThis: furl.netAddThis: www.netscape.comAddThis: myweb2.search.yahoo.comAddThis: www.stumbleupon.comAddThis: www.google.comAddThis: www.technorati.comAddThis: blinklist.comAddThis: newsvine.comAddThis: ma.gnolia.comAddThis: reddit.comAddThis: favorites.live.com