declamation Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun vehement oratory
  2. noun recitation of a speech from memory with studied gestures and intonation as an exercise in elocution or rhetoric

WordNet

Dec`la*ma"tion noun
Etymology
L. declamatio, from declamare: cf. F. déclamation. See Declaim.
Definitions
  1. The act or art of declaiming; rhetorical delivery; haranguing; loud speaking in public; especially, the public recitation of speeches as an exercise in schools and colleges; as, the practice declamation by students.
    The public listened with little emotion, but with much civility, to five acts of monotonous declamation. Macaulay.
  2. A set or harangue; declamatory discourse.
  3. Pretentious rhetorical display, with more sound than sense; as, mere declamation.

Webster 1913