English

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Etymology

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From Late Latin vīlificāre, present active infinitive of vīlificō (vilify). Equivalent to vile +‎ -ify.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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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
    • 2021 March 2, Jason Scott, 王晰宁 [Wang Xining], “China Rips Murdoch’s News Corp. for Reports on Pandemic Origins”, in Bloomberg News[1], 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

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Translations

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