revile
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of revile
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English revilen, from Middle French reviler; see re-, vile
Explanation
If something is reviled, you alone don’t dislike it; a whole community of like-minded souls has to hate its guts. For instance, spam is widely reviled. (The junk e-mails, not the potted meat. Somebody out there really does like that potted meat.) If you’re the only one who hates, say, your math teacher, it’s not fair to say that person is reviled. If she is majestically unpopular with the entire senior class and is routinely the butt of geometry-themed insults, well then sadly, this instructor is indeed reviled. Generally, when someone or something is reviled, much of the poison aimed is in print, such as critical reviews or insulting editorials.
Vocabulary lists containing revile
100 SAT words Beginning with "R"
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Heart of Darkness
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The Bluest Eye
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Revile him not! the tempter hath A snare for all; And pitying tears, not scorn and wrath, Befit his fall.
From A History of the Nineteenth Century, Year by Year Volume Two (of Three) by Emerson, Edwin
Revile her as they might, under her the Romanists had been on the whole gently and justly used.
From It Might Have Been The Story of the Gunpowder Plot by Irwin, M. (Madelaine)
Revile that nation-saving paper, Which gave the Dean the name of Drapier?
From The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume 2 by Browning, William Ernst
Revile, rē-vīl′, v.t. to reproach: to calumniate.—v.i. to speak contemptuously.—ns.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various
Revile him not—the Tempter hath A snare for all; And pitying tears, not scorn and wrath, Befit his fall.”
From Expansion and Conflict by Dodd, William E.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
