vilify
verb (used with object)
to speak ill of; defame; slander.
had vilified
-
past perfectof vilify.past perfect
Used to express a completed action that took place before another specific past action occurred.
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.
Nariman Tamimi had been expecting the raid: Over the previous week, an online campaign had vilified her daughter as a terrorist and demanded Ahed’s arrest.
From New York Times ● Nov. 27, 2023
He had vilified witnesses who told the truth because he saw them “as a friend turning on you.”
From Slate ● Jan. 18, 2013
Then he became president and seized control of Bolivia’s petroleum industry, forming new joint-venture partnerships with some of the same foreign firms he had vilified.
From Washington Post
Quick to see his chance Defender Hogan roared to the jury that this Englishman had vilified American revolutionary leaders, had advised a yardarm hanging for George Washington.
From Time Magazine Archive
I said you had vilified me in my own house, and yet you ask of me an act of magnanimity!
From Berlin and Sans-Souci; or Frederick the Great and his friends by L. (Luise) Mühlbach
