Vociferous
(pronounced voh-sif-er-us) adjective
Definition
marked by or given to loud, noisy, or vehement outcry; insistently demanding or complaining.
Main Example
- The extreme distress suffered by those JetBlue passengers who were confined to their stationary aircraft for over 11 hours--with no food or drink, overflowing toilets, and within such a short distance of the terminal gates--comes close on the heels of a similar incident in Austin, Texas, this past December. That situation involved an American Airlines jet whose passengers were forced to stay onboard the aircraft for over eight hours after landing--again, with no food, and with overflowing toilets--because "no gates were available." Appalling cases such as these have led to vociferous cries from many fliers that Congress needs to pass something akin to a "passengers' bill of rights."
Workplace Examples
- Now that our factory has resumed production, I suggest we ship first to those customers who have been the most vociferous in their complaints about the delays.
- Why on earth is the purchasing department so steamed up about our plan? They're not affected in any way! Yet, in every meeting, they've argued vociferously against it.
Other Examples
- at a company's annual meeting, burly security officers physically removing an angry shareholder after his protests became vociferous and disrupted the CEO's speech
- to vociferously deny an allegation; an accused insisting vociferously that he or she is innocent of a charge; somebody being declared the winner over vociferous objections of a rival
- parts of the president's State of the Union address being greeted by vociferous cheers; Princeton Professor Peter Singer's vociferous advocacy of animal rights; the vociferousness of France's opposition to the war in Iraq raising the hackles of many Americans, with some lawmakers going so far as to change the name of French fries to "American fries" in the Congressional cafeteria
- some social conservatives being vociferous opponents of abortion, embryonic stem cell research, and gay marriage
