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.
Published this month by the University of Georgia Press, Thurmond’s book makes a case that Oglethorpe evolved to revile slavery and, unlike most white Europeans of his time, saw the humanity in enslaved Africans.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 16, 2024
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely,
From BBC • Jul. 4, 2023
Situations like this are exactly why we rightly revile Rupert.
From New York Times • Mar. 29, 2023
And very slowly, generations of Americans were raised to revile cigarette smoking.
From Washington Post • Nov. 24, 2022
Don’t we have a cheerful, simple morality here in Western Civilization: expect perfection, and revile the missed mark!
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
