Definition of "declamation"

declamation

/ˌdɛkləˈmeɪʃən/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural declamations
1. The act or art of declaiming; rhetorical delivery; loud speaking in public.
  1. The public recitation of speeches as an exercise in schools and colleges.
    Quotations
    His recitations were prompt and correct, and his answers were given with confidence. But perhaps he did himself most credit in declamation. He had always been very fond of that, and though he had never received and scientific instruction in it, he possessed a natural grace and a deep feeling of earnestness which made success easy. He had selected an extract from Webster--the reply to the Hayne--and this was the showpiece of the afternoon. The rest of the declamation was crude enough, but Harry's impressed even the most ignorant of his listeners as superior for a boy of his age.
    1873, Horatio Alger, chapter V, in Bound to Rise
2. A set or harangue; declamatory discourse.
3. Pretentious rhetorical display, with more sound than sense.