speech act

speech act

n.

See performative.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

speech act - the use of language to perform some act human action, human activity, act, deed - something that people do or cause to happen congratulation, felicitation - the act of acknowledging that someone has an occasion for celebration slander - words falsely spoken that damage the reputation of another proposal, proposition - the act of making a proposal; "they listened to her proposal" bid, bidding, command, dictation - an authoritative direction or instruction to do something agreement - the verbal act of agreeing citation - (law) the act of citing (as of spoken words or written passages or legal precedents etc.) disagreement - the speech act of disagreeing or arguing or disputing offer, offering - the verbal act of offering; "a generous offer of assistance" asking, request - the verbal act of requesting reply, response - the speech act of continuing a conversational exchange; "he growled his reply" description - the act of describing something affirmation, assertion, statement - the act of affirming or asserting or stating something denial - the act of refusing to comply (as with a request); "it resulted in a complete denial of his privileges" rejection - the speech act of rejecting objection - the speech act of objecting making known, informing - a speech act that conveys information disclosure, revealing, revelation - the speech act of making something evident promise - a verbal commitment by one person to another agreeing to do (or not to do) something in the future boast, boasting, jactitation, self-praise - speaking of yourself in superlatives naming - the verbal act of naming; "the part he failed was the naming of state capitals" challenge - a call to engage in a contest or fight explanation - the act of explaining; making something plain or intelligible; "I heard his explanation of the accident" denouncement, denunciation - a public act of denouncing speech, address - the act of delivering a formal spoken communication to an audience; "he listened to an address on minor Roman poets" resignation - the act of giving up (a claim or office or possession etc.)