vilify

English

WOTD – 27 February 2007

Etymology

From Late Latin vīlificāre (“vilify”). Equivalent to vile +‎ -ify. Compare vilipend.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɪl.ɪ.faɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (Australia):

  (file)

Verb

vilify (third-person singular simple present vilifies, present participle vilifying, simple past and past participle vilified)

1. (transitive) To say defamatory things about someone or something; to speak ill of.

   Synonyms: abuse, assail, criticize, decry, denigrate, demonize, denounce, libel, revile, slander, run down; see also Thesaurus:defame

   Antonyms: glorify, praise

2. (transitive) To belittle through speech; to put down.

   Synonyms: berate; see also Thesaurus:criticize

   Antonyms: glorify, praise

   • 2016 April 18, Cristina Alesci, “Monsanto CEO frustrated over 'polarized' GMO debate”, in CNN‎^[1], Atlanta, Ga.: Warner Bros. Discovery, archived from the original on 23 May 2025:

     As one of the largest producers of genetically modified (GM) seeds in the country, Monsanto has been vilified by activists who describe GM products as 'frankenfood.'

   • 2021 March 2, Jason Scott, 王晰宁 [Wang Xining], “China Rips Murdoch’s News Corp. for Reports on Pandemic Origins”, in Bloomberg News‎^[2], archived from the original on 3 March 2021:

     "Those who deliberately vilify China and sabotage the friendship between our two countries and do damage to our long-term friendship and benefits out of their sectoral or selfish interest will be cast aside in history,” he said. “Their children will be ashamed of mentioning their names."

Derived terms

• vilifiable
• vilification
• vilifier
• vilifyingly

Related terms

• vile

Translations

say defamatory things about; to speak ill of

• Azerbaijani: pisləmək, yamanlamaq, qaralamaq
• Bulgarian: клеветя (bg) (klevetja), очерням (bg) (očernjam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 詆毀 / 诋毁 (zh) (dǐhuǐ), 醜化 / 丑化 (zh) (chǒuhuà)

• Czech: pomluvit (cs) pf, pomlouvat (cs) impf, hanět (cs) impf, pohanět (cs) pf, očernit pf, očerňovat impf
• Dutch: verguizen (nl)
• Egyptian: (dsj)
• Finnish: puhua pahaa (fi), herjata (fi)
• French: diffamer (fr), vilipender (fr)
• Galician: deostar, denigrar (gl)
• Georgian: გაშავება (gašaveba), გალანძღვა (galanʒɣva), ძაგება (ʒageba)
• German: diffamieren (de), verleumden (de), verunglimpfen (de), verteufeln (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: κακηγορέω (kakēgoréō)

• Hungarian: rágalmaz (hu)
• Italian: denigrare (it), vilipendere (it)
• Japanese: 貶す (ja) (kenasu), 謗る (ja) (soshiru)
• Māori: whakahariharitae, whakataraweti
• Polish: oczerniać (pl)
• Portuguese: vilificar, vilipendiar (pt), difamar (pt)
• Romanian: denigra (ro)
• Russian: очерня́ть (ru) (očernjátʹ), поноси́ть (ru) (ponosítʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: càin
• Spanish: vilipendiar (es)
• Turkish: yermek (tr)

denounce, belittle through speech

• Czech: urazit (cs) pf, ponížit pf, hanět (cs) impf, špinit (cs) impf, pošpinit (cs) pf, ponižovat (cs) impf, urážet impf, pohanět (cs) pf, očernit pf
• Dutch: kleineren (nl)
• Finnish: panetella (fi), parjata (fi)
• French: dénigrer (fr), vilipender (fr)
• Galician: denigrar (gl)
• Georgian: დამცირება (damcireba), ძაგება (ʒageba)
• German: herabwürdigen (de), heruntermachen, schlechtmachen (de), herunterputzen (de)
• Japanese: 貶める (ja) (otoshimeru)
• Māori: whakahariharitae
• Polish: potępiać (pl)
• Portuguese: difamar (pt), diminuir (pt)
• Russian: унижа́ть (ru) (unižátʹ), опуска́ть (ru) (opuskátʹ) (colloquial)
• Scottish Gaelic: càin
• Turkish: azarlamak (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} acusar (es)