Jeremiad

Jeremiah's laments are so well-known, that his name gave birth to a term, Jeremiad. Its meaning is described below:

jer·e·mi·ad
noun \ˌjer-ə-ˈmī-əd, -ˌad\

Definition of JEREMIAD: a prolonged lamentation or complaint; also : a cautionary or angry harangue

Examples of JEREMIAD

1. a jeremiad against the political apathy shown by so many young people

Origin of JEREMIAD
French jérémiade, from Jérémie Jeremiah, from Late Latin Jeremias

Synonyms: diatribe, harangue, tirade, philippic, rant

The Jeremiad developed into a literary form used frequently in sermons by Puritan ministers in New England during the early colonial period of the United States.

"Taking their texts from Jeremiah and Isaiah, these orations followed--and reinscribed--a rhetorical formula that included recalling the courage and piety of the founders, lamenting recent and present ills, and crying out for a return to the original conduct and zeal. In current scholarship, the term 'jeremiad' has expanded to include not only sermons but also other texts that rehearse the familiar tropes of the formula such as captivity narratives, letters, covenant renewals, as well as some histories and biographies" (Cambridge History of American Literature, Volume 1, 257).