IMPRECATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does imprecate mean? 

• IMPRECATE (verb)
  The verb IMPRECATE has 2 senses:

1. wish harm upon; invoke evil upon

2. utter obscenities or profanities

  Familiarity information: IMPRECATE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IMPRECATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they imprecate    ... he / she / it imprecates   
Past simple: imprecated   
Past participle: imprecated   
-ing form: imprecating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Wish harm upon; invoke evil upon

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

anathemise; anathemize; bedamn; beshrew; curse; damn; imprecate; maledict

Context example:

The bad witch cursed the child

Hypernyms (to "imprecate" is one way to...):

arouse; bring up; call down; call forth; conjure; conjure up; evoke; invoke; put forward; raise; stir (summon into action or bring into existence, often as if by magic)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

Utter obscenities or profanities

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

blaspheme; curse; cuss; imprecate; swear

Context example:

The drunken men were cursing loudly in the street

Hypernyms (to "imprecate" is one way to...):

express; give tongue to; utter; verbalise; verbalize (articulate; either verbally or with a cry, shout, or noise)

Verb group:

blaspheme (speak of in an irreverent or impious manner)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

 Context examples 

How often did I imprecate curses on the cause of my being!

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)