pillory

[ pil-uh-ree ]

/ ˈpɪl ə ri /

noun, plural pil·lo·ries.

a wooden framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used to expose an offender to public derision.

verb (used with object), pil·lo·ried, pil·lo·ry·ing.

to set in the pillory.

to expose to public derision, ridicule, or abuse: The candidate mercilessly pilloried his opponent.

Nearby words

Origin of pillory

1225–75; Middle English pyllory < Old French pilori, perhaps < Medieval Latin pīlōrium, equivalent to Latin pīl(a) pillar (see pile¹) + -ōrium -ory², though Romance variants such as Provençal espillori suggest a less transparent source

Related formsun·pil·lo·ried, adjective

Can be confusedpillar pillory pillow

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for pillory

Compare the British pillory of Tebbit with the reaction in India to the Kashmiri students.
India Row Evokes Cricket’s Ultranationalist Tebbit Test|Tunku Varadarajan|March 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“Rails” and “lacerate,” two other words swiftly elected for pillory, were classic Tejpal, overblown, mannered, theatrical.
The Fall of India’s Conscience|Tunku Varadarajan|November 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
And because the pillory of a bad book is as culturally stimulating as the lauding of a good book.
Letter to a Young Critic: William Giraldi Defends True Criticism|William Giraldi|September 5, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The Press also acts most effectually as a modern substitute for the pillory.
A History of Police in England|W. L. Melville Lee

He was fined repeatedly for publishing immoral works, and once stood in the pillory for it.
A Budget of Paradoxes, Volume II (of II)|Augustus de Morgan
Then he moved in his bonds, and his furious exertions made the ancient wheel of the pillory shriek on its axle.
Notre-Dame de Paris|Victor Hugo
Men were put in the pillory for perjury, libel, and the like.
Lord John Russell|Stuart J. Reid
The pillory was aristocratic in comparison, as was also branding with a hot iron.
Curious Punishments of Bygone Days|Alice Morse Earle

British Dictionary definitions for pillory

pillory

/ (ˈpɪlərɪ) /

noun plural -ries

a wooden framework into which offenders were formerly locked by the neck and wrists and exposed to public abuse and ridicule

exposure to public scorn or abuse

verb -ries, -rying or -ried (tr)

to expose to public scorn or ridicule

to punish by putting in a pillory

Word Origin for pillory

C13: from Anglo-Latin pillorium, from Old French pilori, of uncertain origin; related to Provençal espillori

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pillory

pillory

late 13c. (attested in Anglo-Latin from late 12c.), from Old French pilori "pillory" (mid-12c.), related to Medieval Latin pilloria, of uncertain origin, perhaps a diminutive of Latin pila "pillar, stone barrier" (see pillar), but OED finds this proposed derivation "phonologically unsuitable."

pillory

c.1600, from pillory (n.). Figurative sense of "expose publicly to ridicule or abuse" is from 1690s. Related: Pilloried.