vile
Americanadjective
-
wretchedly bad.
a vile humor.
- Antonyms:
- good
-
highly offensive, unpleasant, or objectionable.
vile slander.
-
repulsive or disgusting, as to the senses or feelings.
a vile odor.
- Synonyms:
- repellent
-
morally debased, depraved, or despicable.
vile deeds.
- Synonyms:
- iniquitous, evil, vicious
- Antonyms:
- elevated
-
foul; filthy.
vile language.
-
poor; wretched.
vile workmanship.
-
of mean or low condition.
a vile beggar.
-
menial; lowly.
vile tasks.
-
degraded; ignominious.
vile servitude.
- Synonyms:
- contemptible
-
of little value or account; paltry.
a vile recompense.
- Synonyms:
- trifling, trivial, contemptible
adjective
-
abominably wicked; shameful or evil
the vile development of slavery appalled them
-
morally despicable; ignoble
vile accusations
-
disgusting to the senses or emotions; foul
a vile smell
vile epithets
-
tending to humiliate or degrade
only slaves would perform such vile tasks
-
unpleasant or bad
vile weather
-
paltry
a vile reward
Synonym Usage
See mean 2.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of vile
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English vil, from Old French, from Latin vīlis “of little worth, base, cheap”
Explanation
Surely only an evil person could be so vile as to have made you so angry. Vile is something or someone so morally wrong or offensive as to be thoroughly disgusting. Are you appalled by someone’s sordid, despicable, ugly and just generally awful behavior? Then it’s probably vile, too. One of those dramatic adjectives with many synonyms, the word vile is not only used to describe a person or an action that is morally reprehensible; it can describe a smell that is so bad as to be practically morally reprehensible — or something else that offends your senses enough to make you nauseous. Those three month old dirty gym socks? They’re vile!
Vocabulary lists containing vile
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"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act III
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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.
See Examples For:
Xavier, a vile keyboard warrior, thinks he might have hooked a politician in rural Murphy, Texas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
"We will not let the vile actions of one man define our values and our integrity," he added.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
Ms. Hodge is wonderfully vile as Miriam and her counterpart, Lady Margaret Chalfont.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
Part of their story, then, is that it’s a vile myth that pregnancy and motherhood can be hard on women.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
No indeed, the world is just as concrete, ornery, vile and sublimely wonderful as before, only now I better understand my relation to it and it to me.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
Presidents, there was "no viler oaf" than Woodrow Wilson.
From Time Magazine Archive
Life calls for adjectives that mean better than best, viler than vile, cooler than cool.
From Time Magazine Archive
A creature viler, more cowardly, worse, the mind of man cannot conceive.
From Sir Harry Hotspur of Humblethwaite by Anthony Trollope
Was jester ever in A viler than the present?
From A Selection from the Works of Frederick Locker by Hannah Jane Locker-Lampson
He was glad to leave Paris, its vile court and viler king; he was sorry to leave nobody but little Fanny Walsingham.
From Stories and Legends of Travel and History, for Children by Grace Greenwood
Sit in front of a screen and suffer an endless stream of the vilest videos the internet can offer, approving or denying each clip’s right to stay on a given platform.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
He’s been in Shakespearean villain territory many times, but this most recent selfish and heartless move puts him up there with the vilest villains the Bard of Avon ever created.
From Salon ● Feb. 5, 2024
Generations of Americans have held firm to a version of free speech that makes room for even the vilest of views.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 12, 2024
The best reason to watch it is Jude Law’s swarthily entertaining performance as Henry at his vilest, with state-of-the-art support from a horrifically pus-leaking, maggot-ridden leg wound.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2023
His eyes snapped open and looked at her, and there was nothing but loathing there, nothing but the vilest contempt.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
