billingsgate

noun

ˈbi-liŋz-ˌgāt How to pronounce billingsgate (audio)
Definition of billingsgatenext
as in abuse
harsh insulting language the intemperate billingsgate to which the staff in customer service were sometimes subjected

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How is the word billingsgate distinct from other similar nouns?

Some common synonyms of billingsgate are abuse, invective, obloquy, and vituperation. While all these words mean "vehemently expressed condemnation or disapproval," billingsgate implies practiced fluency and variety of profane or obscene abuse.

directed a stream of billingsgate at the cabdriver

When is abuse a more appropriate choice than billingsgate?

The synonyms abuse and billingsgate are sometimes interchangeable, but abuse, the most general term, usually implies the anger of the speaker and stresses the harshness of the language.

scathing verbal abuse

In what contexts can invective take the place of billingsgate?

In some situations, the words invective and billingsgate are roughly equivalent. However, invective implies a comparable vehemence but suggests greater verbal and rhetorical skill and may apply to a public denunciation.

blistering political invective

When could obloquy be used to replace billingsgate?

The words obloquy and billingsgate are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, obloquy suggests defamation and consequent shame and disgrace.

subjected to obloquy and derision

Where would vituperation be a reasonable alternative to billingsgate?

While in some cases nearly identical to billingsgate, vituperation implies fluent and sustained abuse.

a torrent of vituperation

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for billingsgate
  1. abuse
  2. insult
  3. invective
  4. vituperation
  5. criticism
Noun
  • Even before the recent cuts, watchdog officials considered the agency's thin federal workforce, which oversees more than 60,000 contract employees, to be an an Achilles heel that poses significant risk of fraud, waste, and abuse of taxpayer funds.
    — Davis Winkie, USA Today, 8 Apr. 2025
  • Authorities were called April 3 to Richmond Hill Elementary School in Augusta regarding a report of child abuse, the report says.
    — Tanasia Kenney, Miami Herald, 8 Apr. 2025
Definition of abuse
Noun
  • But some Republican registrars took them as an insult, and at least one, Lisa Amatruda of Woodbury, walked out.
    — Mark Pazniokas, Hartford Courant, 16 Apr. 2025
  • The imitation Punisher logo on Cole’s bullet was no act of flattery, but the most vile of insults.
    — Proma Khosla, IndieWire, 16 Apr. 2025
Definition of insult
Noun
  • Oilers fans booed the American national anthem, and one woman used a lull to shout an invective about Mr. Trump.
    — John Branch, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2025
  • That decision, highly unusual in Japan, earned her some support from politicians, but a tide of abuse and invective on social media from people dismissing her claims.
    — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 17 Feb. 2025
Definition of invective
Noun
  • The politicization of the COVID response has only worsened this trend, likely resulting in part from Trump’s vituperation.
    — Matt Motta, Scientific American, 29 Oct. 2024
  • Flash forward 92-plus years to Donald Trump’s rally Sunday at New York’s Madison Square Garden, a bleak, lurid festival of racist hate and profane vituperation so vile that even fellow Republicans, who have turned a blind eye to Trump’s character for years, are distancing themselves from the event.
    — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2024
Definition of vituperation
Noun
  • For an artist so focused on the future, criticism doesn’t slow him down.
    — Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Apr. 2025
  • The messaging also included criticism of U.S. policy that echoed China's public statements.
    — Beijing and Washington Bureaus, USA Today, 14 Apr. 2025
Definition of criticism
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Billingsgate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/billingsgate. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.

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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about billingsgate

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