imprecate
Call down curses
Imprecate is a formal verb meaning to invoke evil or curse someone, calling down misfortune upon them.
It suggests the utterance of curses or maledictions, often with ritualistic or solemn overtones: The old woman imprecated vengeance upon those who had wronged her family.
The related noun imprecation refers to the curse itself.
While rarely encountered in everyday speech, imprecate appears in literary and religious contexts where the gravity of cursing warrants elevated language.
Verbal invocation of harm
- anathemaIntensely detested thing
- hexMalevolent incantation
- jinxCurse bringing misfortune
- damnationEternal punishment decree
curse · evil-eye · voodoo · hoodoo · spell · incantation · bewitchment · oath
Publicly declare wrongdoing
- damnMild expletive
- anathematizeFormally denounce or curse
- censureFormal institutional disapproval
- reprobateUnprincipled person beyond reform
vituperate · castigate · excoriation · denunciation · rebuke · reprimand · opprobrium · fulminate
malediction
Verbal invocation of harm
damnation · curse · evil-eye · voodoo · hoodoo · spell · incantation · bewitchment · oath · bane
denounce
Publicly declare wrongdoing
- damnMild expletive
- anathematizeFormally denounce or curse
- censureFormal institutional disapproval
reprobate · vituperate · castigate · excoriation · denunciation · rebuke · reprimand · opprobrium · fulminate · inveigh
malevolence
Active ill will
animosity · venom · rancor · vindictiveness · hatred · hostility · vengeance · retribution · wrath · fury
invoke
Call upon formally
- beseechPlead urgently with someone
- entreatPlead urgently with someone
- supplicateBeg earnestly and humbly
adjure · conjure · invocation · petition · plea · appeal · summon · liturgy · ritual · intercession
imprecatebless
Confer favor upon
benediction · wish well · consecrate · sanctify · hallow