obloquy

ob•lo•quy (OB-luh-kwee)  n

Definition:
1. censure, blame, or abusive language aimed at a person or thing, esp. by numerous persons or by the general public
2. discredit, disgrace, or bad repute resulting from public blame, abuse, or denunciation

obloquies plural; obloquial adjective

Origin:
1425–75; from L.L. obloquium "speaking against, contradiction," from ob "against" + loqui "to speak," from PIE *tolkw-/*tlokw- "to speak"

Related:
Synonyms: thersitical, reproach, calumny, aspersion, revilement, abuse, animadversion, aspersion, censure, criticism, defamation, disgrace, humiliation, ignominy, insult, invective, reproach, slander, vituperation, contumely
Related Words: loquitur, loquacious, soliloquy,interlocutor, magniloquence, grandiloquence, colloquy, locution, somniloquy, ventriloquy, circumlocution

Sentence Examples:
• It was the galling reflection that Calais was lost to the French in a Spanish quarrel that crowned the poor Queen's obloquy. She had lost it through wanton neglect.  -The Reign of Mary Tudor, James Anthony Froude

• I said I supposed he would wish me to act as his second, and he said, "Of course." I said I must be allowed to act under a French name, so that I might be shielded from obloquy in my country, in case of fatal results.  -A Tramp Abroad, Mark Twain

• Marguerite, after the death of the Queen her mother and her brothers, though sole heiress of the House of Valois, was, by the Salic law, excluded from all pretensions to the Crown of France; and though for the greater part of her life shut up in a castle, surrounded by rocks and mountains, she has not escaped the shafts of obloquy. -Memoirs of Marguerite de Valois

The Storyline

The lecture started to well up inside Anna the obloquy she had been holding to for too long. She thought she had made her peace. And these emotions frightened her a little.

Sources: Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

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