- speech
-
2 Speech, address, oration, harangue, lecture, talk, sermon, homily designate a discourse delivered to an audience.Speech can apply to a public discourse irrespective of its quality or its degree of preparation, of its aim (as to influence, instruct, or entertain), or of the caliber of its speaker or audience{
the senator was called upon to make a speech
}{after-dinner speeches
}{"The rest of my speech" (he exclaimed to his men) "you shall hear when I've leisure to speak it"— Lewis Carroll
}Address implies formality and usually careful preparation; it often connotes distinction in the speaker or gives emphasis to the importance of the speech{commencement address
}{the president is scheduled to deliver three addresses on his trip
}{an article developed from his address to friends and admirers at a recent testimonial dinner— Sat. Review
}Oration suggests eloquence, rhetorical style, and usually a dignified but sometimes a high-flown or long-winded appeal to the emotions of a large audience or assembly{a Fourth of July oration
}{the oration of Mr. Webster was worthy of his fame, and what is much more, was worthy of the august occasion— Emerson
}Harangue, once nearly equivalent to oration except for its added implications of vehemence and passion, commonly retains only these distinctive implications and connotes either length and tediousness of speech or an impassioned appeal to the audience{if you do not believe that emotion ... is the basic social force, listen to the harangue of any successful politician— Furnas
}Lecture often implies reading; it commonly designates a carefully prepared speech on a special topic intended to give information and instruction to a group of students or studious persons{they are still using lectures to pass out information which could be got by the student more rapidly and accurately from . . . books— Lynn White
}Talk stresses informality; it may be used to designate either a lecture or an address when the speaker wishes to emphasize his desire to speak directly and simply to his auditors as individuals{this is a talk rather than an oration .... It is surely unnecessary to say how well, and with what an individual attitude and selectiveness Mr. Forster talks— Times Lit. Sup.
}Sermon and homily both commonly imply religious instruction by an ordained preacher and a church congregation as the listeners; in such use sermon usually connotes a theme drawn from a scriptural text, while homily suggests practical moral counsel rather than doctrinal discussion. But both terms have extended use in which they denote a usually didactic talk or discussion on a moral theme{copious drafts of exhortation and homily administered ... by reformers— Cardozo
}{going around the country, preaching sermons on the need of defending the freedom of the mind— Davis
}
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
