Cranes rise above the old rooftops, adding new office towers and new condominiums and new malls to a city where Jonathan Swift once issued his vehement bulletins. Pete Hamill, Gourmet, April 2007As they shouted and mocked, I wondered how they could have developed such intense, vehement hatred toward people with whom they had had no previous contact. Todd Hechtman, The News/Sun-Sentinel, 1 Feb. 1987He cursed himself like a less scrupulous Job, as a vehement man will do when he loses self-respect, the last mental prop under poverty. Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge, 1886Both the ladies indulged in vehement screaming for several minutes; and Mr. Cymon Tuggs, besides sustaining intense bodily pain, had the additional mental anguish of witnessing their distressing situation, without having the power to rescue them, by reason of his leg being firmly screwed in between the animal and the wall. Charles Dickens, Sketches by "Boz", 1836 He issued a vehement denial of the accusation. The proposal has faced vehement opposition from many teachers. She was vehement about the need for new safety measures. See More
Recent Examples on the WebUnstated was Carnegie’s vehement opposition to income and property taxes, money that can be democratically directed to public institutions capable of accomplishing great things. Jasper Craven, The New Republic, 29 Aug. 2022 The doctoring of the records was designed to buttress the party’s vehement opposition to Western legal concepts. Richard Mcgregor, The Atlantic, 21 Aug. 2022 Frankfurter, however, remained resolute, publishing a vehement, lengthy dissent contending that the judiciary had overstepped its bounds. Justin Driver, The Atlantic, 12 Aug. 2022 Limits on police power to shut down demonstrations, despite vehement opposition to the events’ central message, is not a new problem for Boston. Danny Mcdonald, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Aug. 2022 Pelosi’s trip was a rare moment when a major foreign power publicly showed support for the island in the face of vehement opposition from China. Paul Mozur, BostonGlobe.com, 3 Aug. 2022 Their timing added to concerns over China's vehement opposition to the visit by Pelosi, D-Calif. Kevin Collier, NBC News, 2 Aug. 2022 At the Georgia rallies, Don was incredibly vehement and belligerent, whereas Ivanka was more quiet. Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 30 June 2022 California's Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District is taking heat for a recent proposal to add a Planned Parenthood clinic to a nearby high school, but the decision is on hold after vehement protests from parents erupted earlier this week. Taylor Penley, Fox News, 19 July 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
borrowed from Middle French, going back to Old French, borrowed from Latin vehement-, vehemens, vēmens "violent, vigorous, (of feelings) overmastering, powerful," perhaps from vehere "to convey, carry along, drive" + -mens, adjective suffix (as in clēmens "mild, calm") of uncertain origin
Note: Alternatively explained as a prefix vē- "faulty, excessive or deficient" and ment-, mens "mind," in which case -ehe- is an unetymological spelling of the long vowel. Though this would account for vehemens in place of *vehimens (with normal vowel weakening), the word never has the sense "mentally deranged" (the meanings of the presumed parallel formations vēcors and vēsānus).