Meanings
present singular third person vilifies · participle present vilifying · participle past vilified · past vilified
- transitiveTo belittle through speech; to put down.
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.'
2016 April 18, Cristina Alesci, “Monsanto CEO frustrated over 'polarized' GMO debate”, in CNN Business, archived from the original on 23 May 20251 more example
"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."
Wang Xining
2021 March 2, Jason Scott, 王晰宁 [Wang Xining], “China Rips Murdoch’s News Corp. for Reports on Pandemic Origins”, in Bloomberg News, archived from the original on 03 Mar 2021Synonyms: berate, admonish, animadvert, bash, bawl out, tilt, clobber, cannonade · Antonyms: glorify, praise
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo say defamatory things about someone or something; to speak ill of.
verbTo belittle through speech; to put down.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Late Latinvīlificāre“vilify”
- Englishvilify
From Late Latin vīlificāre (“vilify”). Equivalent to vile + -ify. Compare vilipend.
More words from Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek κακηγορέω
- κακηγορέω (kakēgoréō)say defamatory things about; to speak ill of
Bulgarian клеветя, очерням
- клеветя (klevetja)say defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- очерням (očernjam)say defamatory things about; to speak ill of
Chinese Mandarin 詆毀 /诋毁, 醜化 /丑化
- 詆毀 /诋毁 (dǐhuǐ)say defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- 醜化 /丑化 (chǒuhuà)say defamatory things about; to speak ill of
Czech pomluvit, pomlouvat
- pomluvitsay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- pomlouvatsay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- hanětsay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- pohanětsay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- očernitsay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- očerňovatsay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- urazitdenounce, belittle through speech
- ponížitdenounce, belittle through speech
- hanětdenounce, belittle through speech
- špinitdenounce, belittle through speech
- pošpinitdenounce, belittle through speech
- ponižovatdenounce, belittle through speech
Dutch verguizen, kleineren
- verguizensay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- kleinerendenounce, belittle through speech
Finnish puhua pahaa, herjata
- puhua pahaasay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- herjatasay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- panetelladenounce, belittle through speech
- parjatadenounce, belittle through speech
French diffamer, vilipender
- diffamersay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- vilipendersay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- dénigrerdenounce, belittle through speech
- vilipenderdenounce, belittle through speech
German diffamieren, verleumden
- diffamierensay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- verleumdensay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- verunglimpfensay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- verteufelnsay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- herabwürdigendenounce, belittle through speech
- heruntermachendenounce, belittle through speech
- schlechtmachendenounce, belittle through speech
- herunterputzendenounce, belittle through speech
Hungarian rágalmaz
- rágalmazsay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
Italian denigrare, vilipendere
- denigraresay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- vilipenderesay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
Japanese 貶す, 謗る
- 貶す (kenasu)say defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- 謗る (soshiru)say defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- 貶める (otoshimeru)denounce, belittle through speech
Māori whakahariharitae, whakataraweti
- whakahariharitaesay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- whakatarawetisay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- whakahariharitaedenounce, belittle through speech
Polish oczerniać, potępiać
- oczerniaćsay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- potępiaćdenounce, belittle through speech
Portuguese vilificar, vilipendiar
- vilificarsay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- vilipendiarsay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- difamarsay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- difamardenounce, belittle through speech
- diminuirdenounce, belittle through speech
Romanian denigra
- denigrasay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
Russian очерня́ть, поноси́ть
- очерня́ть (očernjátʹ)say defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- поноси́ть (ponosítʹ)say defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- унижа́ть (unižátʹ)denounce, belittle through speech
- опуска́ть (opuskátʹ)denounce, belittle through speech
Scottish Gaelic càin, càin
- càinsay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- càindenounce, belittle through speech
Spanish vilipendiar
- vilipendiarsay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
Turkish yermek, azarlamak
- yermeksay defamatory things about; to speak ill of
- azarlamakdenounce, belittle through speech
Cite this entry
vilify. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vilify
“vilify.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vilify. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “vilify,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vilify.
Source: vilify on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.