Philippic
//fɪˈlɪpɪk// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any of the discourses of Demosthenes against Philip II of Macedon, defending the liberty of Athens.
"[…] the Bema, from whence Demosthenes thundered his philippics and fired the wavering patriotism of his countrymen."
- 2 a speech of violent denunciation wordnet
- 3 Any tirade or declamation full of bitter condemnation. broadly
"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.”"
Example
More examples"[…] the Bema, from whence Demosthenes thundered his philippics and fired the wavering patriotism of his countrymen."
Etymology
From Latin philippicus, from Ancient Greek φιλιππικός (philippikós), from Φίλιππος (Phílippos, “lover of horses”), from φίλος (phílos, “loving”) + ἵππος (híppos, “horse”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.