muckraker
muckraker is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 1 sense, and appears in Roget's Thesaurus (1911) with 28 related terms. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.
Definitions
- 1.To seek for, expose, or charge, esp. habitually, corruption, real or alleged, on the part of public men and corporations. On April 14, 1906, President Roosevelt delivered a speech on "The Man with the Muck Rake," in which he deprecated sweeping and unjust charges of corruption against public men and corporations. The phrase was taken up by the press, and the verb to muck"rake`, in the above sense, and the noun muck"rak`er, to designate one so engaged, were speedily coined and obtained wide currency. The original allusion was to a character in Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" so intent on raking up muck that he could not see a celestial crown held above him.
Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
Synonyms
Related terms (Roget's 1911)
- abusive
- backbiter
- black-mouthed
- calumniator
- carper
- castigator
- caviler
- censor
- censurer
- critic
- cynic
- defamer
- detractor
- disapprover
- friend
- frondeur
- good-natured
- lampooner
- laudator
- libeler
- reprover
- reviler
- satirist
- shrew
- slanderer
- traducer
- vituperator
- word-catcher
Source: Roget's Thesaurus, 1911 edition (public domain, via Project Gutenberg eBook #10681).
Related questions
Sources
- Definitions: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
- Synonyms: Roget's Thesaurus, 1911 edition (public domain, via Project Gutenberg eBook #10681).
- Canonical URL: https://worddirectanswers.com/word/muckraker
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