jeremiad

(jĕr'ə-mī'əd)
n.
A literary work or speech expressing a bitter lament or a righteous prophecy of doom.

[French jérémiade, after Jérémie, Jeremiah, author of , from Late Latin Ieremiās. See Jeremiah¹.]

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The prophet would have been proud. The word jeremiad — a speech of lament or censure named for the biblical Jeremiah — has repeatedly been among our top 5 Alt-Clicks.

"In the 1990's, Dr. [James] Dobson in particular became known for his jeremiads against the Republican party, most notably in the months before the 1998 midterm elections."

Link: Conservative Christians Criticize Republicans

Posted May 16, 2006.

See our Word Overheard blog to see interesting uses of strange words.

noun

A long, violent, or blustering speech, usually of censure or denunciation: diatribe, fulmination, harangue, philippic, tirade. See praise/blame.

jeremiad [je‐ri‐my‐ad], either a prolonged lamentation or a prophetic warning against the evil habits of a nation, foretelling disaster. The term comes from the name of the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah: the second sense refers to his dire warnings of Jerusalem's coming destruction (fulfilled in 586 BCE) and to his threats against the Egyptians, Chaldeans, Ammonites, Moabites, Philistines, and others, as recorded in the biblical book ofJeremiah; the first sense refers to the sequence of elegies on Jerusalem's fall in the book of Lamentations. The term has been applied to some literary works that denounce the evils of a civilization: many of the writings of Thomas Carlyle, of H. D. Thoreau, or of D. H. Lawrence would fit this description.

a prolonged lamentation or complaint

For a list of words related to jeremiad, see:

• Schools, Styles, and Forms - jeremiad: prolonged lamentation or complaint

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See words rhyming with "jeremiad."

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - jeremiade, klagesang

Nederlands (Dutch)
jeremiade

Français (French)
n. - jérémiade

Deutsch (German)
n. - Jeremiade, Wehklage

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (θρησκ.) ιερεμιάδα

Italiano (Italian)
geremiade

Português (Portuguese)
n. - lamentação (f), discurso (m) de censura ou denúncia

Русский (Russian)
иеремиада, бесконечные жалобы

Español (Spanish)
n. - jeremiada, lamento prolongado, lamentación

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - jeremiad, klagovisa

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
悲叹, 怨恨, 悲痛话

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 悲歎, 怨恨, 悲痛話

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 비탄 , 하소연, 넋두리, 슬픈 이야기

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 悲嘆, 悲話

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) نواح, شكوى وانين‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮קינה‬

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