vilify

[ vil-uh-fahy ]

/ ˈvɪl əˌfaɪ /

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See synonyms for: vilify / vilified / vilifying / vilification on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), vil·i·fied, vil·i·fy·ing.

to speak ill of; defame; slander.

Obsolete. to make vile.

OTHER WORDS FOR vilify

1 depreciate, disparage, calumniate, malign, abuse, asperse, blacken.

See synonyms for vilify on Thesaurus.com

OPPOSITES FOR vilify

1 commend.

See antonyms for vilify on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of vilify

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English word from Late Latin word vīlificāre.See vile, -fy

OTHER WORDS FROM vilify

vil·i·fi·ca·tion

[vil-uh-fi-key-shuhn], /ˌvɪl ə fɪˈkeɪ ʃən/, nounvil·i·fi·er, nounvil·i·fy·ing·ly, adverbun·vil·i·fied, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH vilify

vilify , villainize

Words nearby vilify

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use vilify in a sentence

Both Irene and Clare are at once the villains and the victims of a society that would force them to choose one existence over another, vilifying Claire’s choices in one breath and praising Irene’s fair skin in the next.
Colorism Is Just The Tip Of The Iceberg In ‘Passing’|Brande Victorian|February 1, 2021|Essence.com
Wilkie used this language despite a caution from one of his own senior lawyers, who suggested rephrasing to avoid “deterring women veterans from coming forward” by “overly vilifying” Goldstein, according to the report.
VA Secretary Focused on Smearing Woman Who Said She Was Sexually Assaulted in a VA Hospital, Probe Finds|by Isaac Arnsdorf|December 10, 2020|ProPublica
These facts will make it more difficult — more egregiously shameful — to vilify the arts as elite, out of touch or apart from the mainstream of American life.
Transformed by crisis, arts criticism may never be the same. And that’s a good thing.|Philip Kennicott|November 29, 2020|Washington Post
While she’s been embraced by voters in neighborhoods most affected by crime and policing, she’s been vilified in communities where most of the city’s police officers live.
As Trump Calls for Law and Order, Can Chicago’s Top Prosecutor Beat the Charge That She’s Soft on Crime?|by Mick Dumke|September 4, 2020|ProPublica

I took on my own party and my own president on this, and I was vilified, and I was called a traitor and a RINO.
Speak Softly and Carry Big Data (Ep. 395)|Stephen J. Dubner|October 31, 2019|Freakonomics
But it remains a moral crime to vilify good cops who have made the city safe, saving thousands of lives.
Protesters Slimed This Good Samaritan Cop|Michael Daly|December 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And there is the additional fear in these types of cases that the public will vilify the victim, not a celebrity wrongdoer.
Here’s What She’d Tell Bill Cosby Today|Dean Obeidallah|December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
With few Yankees left to vilify, Venezuela continues its slow motion spin into disrepair.
Venezuela’s Audio Hoax Sees Chavez Speaking From the Grave|Mac Margolis|October 8, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Rather than vilify Republicans for their defense of the wealthy, he returned again to trying to win the intellectual high ground.
Is This Thing On?|Daniel Stone|October 6, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Once upon a pre-feminist time, it was more common to vilify the woman.
Bedding the Boss|Tracy Quan|October 5, 2009|DAILY BEAST
On the other hand, I could not bring myself by lengthy or impossible quotations to vilify Duns.
The Mediaeval Mind (Volume II of II)|Henry Osborn Taylor
To vilify another is foolish; to repeat it, is the function of a rogue.
The Eugenic Marriage, Vol. 3 (of 4)|W. Grant Hague
I should require "a character" at some time or another, and there was a body of men primed and ready to vilify and crush me.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXVIII. February, 1843. Vol. LIII.|Various
Again he calls upon his fawning admirers to annihilate Christianity, to hunt it down, to vilify it, to ruin it.
The War Upon Religion|Rev. Francis A. Cunningham
But what would become of "bad tongues" in this world if there were not generous natures to calumniate and vilify?
Sir Jasper Carew|Charles James Lever

British Dictionary definitions for vilify

vilify

/ (ˈvɪlɪˌfaɪ) /

verb -fies, -fying or -fied (tr)

to revile with abusive or defamatory language; malignhe has been vilified in the tabloid press

rare to make vile; debase; degrade

Derived forms of vilify

vilification (ˌvɪlɪfɪˈkeɪʃən), nounvilifier, noun

Word Origin for vilify

C15: from Late Latin vīlificāre, from Latin vīlis worthless + facere to make

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

vilify

OTHER WORDS FOR vilify

OPPOSITES FOR vilify

Origin of vilify

OTHER WORDS FROM vilify

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH vilify

Words nearby vilify

Words related to vilify

How to use vilify in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for vilify

Derived forms of vilify

Word Origin for vilify