vociferous

UK/vəʊˈsɪfəɹəs/US/voʊˈsɪfəɹəs/

adjectiveC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #15,245 of 15,258leans writtenformal · an editor’s judgement

Vociferous means loud and insistent in stating an opinion. Not necessarily right — definitely audible.

It describes people, groups and protests, so a vociferous critic and vociferous opposition are both standard, and neither is a compliment or an insult by itself. The word is about volume and persistence rather than content. It is formal and appears mainly in writing. The Latin root means carrying a voice. Vocal does much the same job in one syllable and is far commoner in speech.

Definitions of vociferous

1adjectivevociferousExpressing opinions loudly and insistently.C2
“There was vociferous opposition from local residents.”

Where it comes from

Latin
vōcifer
English, today
vociferous

From Latin vōcifer + -ous.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 16 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

vociferous in the wild

Unlike other panel discussion shows, which encourage informal (sometimes vociferous) debates as a means of presentation, Washington Week consistently follows a path of civility and moderation.
Washington Week
Online, it came under vociferous attack by Sean Parlaman, who presented himself as a crusader against the prostitution of children.
Don't! Buy! Thai!
Joyce also developed a reputation as a frequent and vociferous critic of umpire calls, earning numerous fines for arguing.
Bill Joyce (baseball)
Biprodas is a vociferous supporter of equal dignity and rights for women.
Jogajog (novel)

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

← Vocabulary