vilification

[ vil-uh-fi-key-shuhn ]

/ ˌvɪl ə fɪˈkeɪ ʃən /

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noun

the act of defaming or speaking ill of someone or something:Senior bishops are prepared to atone for the vilification their predecessors heaped on Darwin in the 1860s, when he put forward his theory of evolution.

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Origin of vilification

First recorded in 1600–10; equivalent to vili(fy) + -fication

Words nearby vilification

vil., Vila, Vila Nova de Gaia, vilayet, vile, vilification, vilify, vilipend, vill, villa, Villach

How to use vilification in a sentence

After decades of prohibition and vilification, they are increasingly being employed as therapeutics.
Psychedelics are having a moment and women could be the ones to benefit|Taylor Majewski|August 10, 2022|MIT Technology Review
We have moved from worship to skepticism to outright vilification of this country’s creators.
Ken Burns' New Documentary Shows Benjamin Franklin in All His Contradictions|Craig Bruce Smith|April 4, 2022|Time
These groups represent the immune systems of our communities actively fighting against the pathologies of hate and vilification and working to grow and mobilize the moderate middle.
Half the U.S. Believes Another Civil War Is Likely. Here Are the 5 Steps We Must Take to Avoid That|Peter T. Coleman|January 6, 2022|Time
He was honored and condemned, respected and despised—yet, for all the vilification, he was a patriot who for better or worse, built the FBI into a professional crime-fighting organization unmatched anywhere in the world.
Working for J. Edgar Hoover, I Saw His Worst Excesses and Best Intentions|Paul Letersky|July 22, 2021|Time

In point of fact, the mass vilification of the league, which peaked a month ago, burned out as quickly as it ignited.
How the Media Failed to Nail the NFL|Steve Almond|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I wonder, too, whether The Feminine Mystique played into the emerging vilification of poor African-American women at the time.
‘The Feminine Mystique’ at 50, Part 2: Three Feminists on What It Means Today|Jessica Bennett, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Alisa Solomon|February 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Instead, they have unleashed a storm of nit-picking and vilification.
Niall Ferguson Defends Newsweek Cover: Correct This, Bloggers|Niall Ferguson|August 21, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The good news for Canada is that these acts of vilification have been met with resounding criticism from political leaders.
Call it What You Want, "Post-Zionism" is Anti-Zionism|David Frum|March 17, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Matthew Dowd, a former strategist for George W. Bush, said the GOP “wants passion and wants the vilification of the president.”
Candidates Wanted: Republicans' Void for 2012|Jill Lawrence|May 24, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Foreigners who attempted personal vilification found him ready to meet them with their own weapons.
Minor Poems by Milton|John Milton
Evidently Milton can cull words of extreme disparagement and vilification as well as words of unapproachable poetic beauty.
Minor Poems by Milton|John Milton
Vilification tore at the other's lips, until friend and enemy marveled at what Steve took in silence.
Then I'll Come Back to You|Larry Evans
So vile was their language and conduct that "comedy" came to signify abuse and vilification.
History of English Humour, Vol. 1 (of 2)|Alfred Guy Kingan L'Estrange
Campaigns of vilification, corruption and false pretence have lost their usefulness.
The Art of Public Speaking|Dale Carnagey (AKA Dale Carnegie) and J. Berg Esenwein

vilification

Origin of vilification

Words nearby vilification

Words related to vilification

How to use vilification in a sentence