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to declaim

to declaim

4 8.2
To speak loudly and with strong feeling like an actor giving a speech
  • verb
  • /dɪˈkleɪm/
  • Formal
translation icon : declamar
  • As we recite and declaim, others march and die.
  • declaiming memorized passages
  • declaimed contemporary poetry
  • declaim a memorized passage

Examples

  • I did not go to them as a monarch, but in peasant garb," Bastable declaimed triumphantly.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • "I have been cursed for three hundred years!" he declaimed.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • On the one hand, the UN is a stage on which its member states declaim their differences.

    Academic text (2003)
  • Perhaps I was meant to declaim them to a crowd wherever a crowd might gather.

  • Do you have anything you'd like to declaim on honor?

  • Just declaim a few lines from Othell-a

  • As my father used to declaim, "Do you know what a buckeye is?"

    Blog text (13)
  • Tony ignores their sarcasm and declaims: The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • From his perch on a bird-limed twig, he declaimed, scourging mankind, racked by his obligation to testify.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • "Just the right sort of organizing effort and a very encouraging development," declaimed the esteemed Professor Chomsky.

Synonyms

to recite
vsto declaim
86 3.5

Say something aloud from memory in front of other people

adds forceful, passionate and theatrical delivery to simple repetition
to speechify
vsto declaim
1 9.4

To give a long formal speech that sounds boring and self-important

is emotionally charged and dramatic rather than merely pompous
to vociferate
vsto declaim
  • Formal
1 9.9

Shout loudly with strong feeling, often to protest

is theatrical and performative rather than just loud protest
to speak volcanically
vsto declaim
  • Literature
8.6

To talk with strong, sudden feeling, often loudly or angrily

is forceful and theatrical but less explosively emotional
to spiel off
vsto declaim
  • Informal
8.7

To say facts quickly and smoothly from memory

is theatrical and passionate rather than only fast and rehearsed

Antonyms

586 1.0

To speak very quietly using only breath so one person can hear

103 4.9

To speak in a low, unclear voice that is hard to understand

How Theatrical

to rant
  • Informal
70 4.8
to declaim
  • Formal
4 8.2
to orate
  • Formal
1 8.8
to recite
86 3.5
to speak
1.0
to say
1.0

Surface Forms

declaim infinitive
declared past
declared past participle
declaiming present participle
declares third person singular

Morphology

declaim = claim (opaque) = de + claim

Although formally analysable as de- + claim, the meaning 'speak rhetorically/theatrically' is not predictable from modern 'claim' or a productive negative/deprivative 'de-'.

Etymology

Declaim comes from the Latin parts de- and clamare, where clamare means 'to shout', as in exclaim and clamor. So to declaim is to speak loudly and dramatically, often with strong feeling.