fulminate
/ˈfʌlmɪneɪt/
"fulminate" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“fulminate” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To make a verbal attack.
Corpus desk
Index EN-fulminate · fulminate · English
fulminate · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "F" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | fulminate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈfʌlmɪneɪt/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “fulminate” in English
Rare enough to double-check
fulminate is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈfʌlmɪneɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.
fulminate doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English fulminaten, borrowed from Latin fulminātus, perfect passive participle of fulminō (“to lighten, hurl or strike with lightning”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from fulmen (“lightning which strikes and sets on fire, thunderbo… The correct English form is fulminate, spelled F-U-L-M-I-N-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1To make a verbal attack.
- 2To issue as a denunciation.
- 3To thunder or make a loud noise.
- 4To strike with lightning; to cause to explode.
- 5to act as lightning, appearing quickly and destructively
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how fulminate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
In short, the criticism which the great lexicographer fulminated against an unfortunate author, seems to have been adopted by the profession as applicable to everything under the sun […]
To be sure, Trump has fulminated on Twitter against the judges who rebuffed him. But his tirades have earned him a reprimand––if a brief, vague one––from his own Supreme Court nominee.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English fulminaten, borrowed from Latin fulminātus, perfect passive participle of fulminō (“to lighten, hurl or strike with lightning”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from fulmen (“lightning which strikes and sets on fire, thunderbolt”), from earlier *fulgmen, *fulgimen, from fulgeō, fulgō (“flash, lighten”). Doublet of fulmine. More at fulgent.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.