vilify

WOTD – 27 February 2007    

English

Etymology

From Latin vīlificāre, present active infinitive of vīlificō (“villify”),

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈvɪl.ɪ.faɪ/

• Audio (US)

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

Synonyms

• (say defamatory things about): assail, criticize, decry, denounce, libel, slander
• (belittle, put down): berate
• See also Wikisaurus:defame

Related terms

• vilification
• vilifier

Translations

say defamatory things about

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 詆毀 (cmn), 诋毁 (cmn) (dǐhuǐ), 醜化 (cmn), 丑化 (cmn) (chǒuhuà)

• French: calomnier (fr), diffamer (fr)
• German: diffamieren (de), verleumden (de), verunglimpfen (de), verteufeln (de)

• Japanese: けなす (ja) (kenasu), そしる (ja) (soshiru)
• Polish: oczerniać (pl)
• Russian: очернять (ru) (očernjátʹ), поносить (ru) (ponosítʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: càin (gd)
• Spanish: vilipendiar (es)

denounce, belittle through speech

• Dutch: kleineren (nl)
• Finnish: panetella (fi)
• German: herabwürdigen (de)

• Polish: potępiać (pl)
• Russian: унижать (ru) (unižátʹ), опускать (ru) (opuskátʹ) (colloquial)
• Scottish Gaelic: càin (gd)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

• Spanish:acusar
• Italian: vilipendere, calunniare