imprecation

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun the act of calling down a curse that invokes evil (and usually serves as an insult)
noun a slanderous accusation

Learned borrowing from Latin imprecātiō (“calling down of curses”), from imprecor (“call down, invoke”).

Costigan bit off a bitter imprecation. — Triplanetary, E. E. (Edward Elmer) Smith
A shower of oaths and imprecations followed. — Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself, Harriet A. (Harriet Ann) Jacobs
From the heaving tangle issued exhortations, commands, imprecations. — The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War, Stephen Crane

malediction

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