vilify

[ vil-uh-fahy ]

verb (used with object)

, vil·i·fied, vil·i·fy·ing.

1. to speak ill of; defame; slander.

   Synonyms: asperse, abuse, malign, calumniate, disparage, depreciate, blacken

   Antonyms: commend

2. Obsolete. to make vile.

vilify

/ ˈvɪlɪˌfaɪ; ˌvɪlɪfɪˈkeɪʃən /

verb

1. to revile with abusive or defamatory language; malign

   he has been vilified in the tabloid press

2. rare.
   to make vile; debase; degrade

Derived Forms

• vilification, noun
• ˈviliˌfier, noun

Other Words From

• vil·i·fi·ca·tion [vil-, uh, -fi-, key, -sh, uh, n], noun
• vil·i·fi·er noun
• vil·i·fy·ing·ly adverb
• un·vil·i·fied adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of vilify¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English word from Late Latin word vīlificāre. See vile, -fy

Word History and Origins

Origin of vilify¹

C15: from Late Latin vīlificāre, from Latin vīlis worthless + facere to make

Example Sentences

But it remains a moral crime to vilify good cops who have made the city safe, saving thousands of lives.

From The Daily Beast

And there is the additional fear in these types of cases that the public will vilify the victim, not a celebrity wrongdoer.

From The Daily Beast

With few Yankees left to vilify, Venezuela continues its slow motion spin into disrepair.

From The Daily Beast

Rather than vilify Republicans for their defense of the wealthy, he returned again to trying to win the intellectual high ground.

From The Daily Beast

Once upon a pre-feminist time, it was more common to vilify the woman.

From The Daily Beast

On the other hand, I could not bring myself by lengthy or impossible quotations to vilify Duns.

From Project Gutenberg

To vilify another is foolish; to repeat it, is the function of a rogue.

From Project Gutenberg

I should require "a character" at some time or another, and there was a body of men primed and ready to vilify and crush me.

From Project Gutenberg

Again he calls upon his fawning admirers to annihilate Christianity, to hunt it down, to vilify it, to ruin it.

From Project Gutenberg

But what would become of "bad tongues" in this world if there were not generous natures to calumniate and vilify?

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• assail
• berate
• damn
• decry
• defame
• denigrate
• denounce
• disparage
• malign
• mistreat
• revile
• slander
• smear