jeremiad

Definition

A long speech or prose work that bitterly laments the state of society and its morals, and often contains a prophecy of its coming downfall.

Etymology

From French jérémiade, from Jérémie, from Latin Ieremias, from Hebrew ירמיה (yirm'yá, “Jeremiah”). Named after biblical prophet Jeremiah, who lamented the moral state of Judah and predicted her downfall.

Example Sentences

• "Near-synonyms: diatribe, tirade, lamentation, lament; see also Thesaurus:diatribe"
• ""Father Maguire," he said in the broadest of Cork brogues, without the ghost of a smile on his grave Irish face, "is it a song yez wantin'? Well, thin, it's just a jeremiad I 'd be singin' yez, an' not another song at all, at all.""
• "“This is precisely the manner of Balkanization that Schlesinger cautioned us about in his prescient jeremiad on multiculturalism, The Disuniting of America.”"