vil·i·fy

(vĭl′ə-fī′)

tr.v. vil·i·fied, vil·i·fy·ing, vil·i·fies

To attack the reputation of (a person or thing) with strong or abusive criticism. See Synonyms at malign.

[Middle English vilifien, from Late Latin vīlificāre, to hold cheap : Latin vīlis, cheap; see wes- in Indo-European roots + Latin -ficāre, -fy.]

vil′i·fi·ca′tion (-fĭ-kā′shən) n.

vil′i·fi′er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

vilifier - one who attacks the reputation of another by slander or libel

backbiter, defamer, libeler, maligner, slanderer, traducer

depreciator, detractor, disparager, knocker - one who disparages or belittles the worth of something

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

The law, however, draws a distinction, attenuated though the distinction may be, between free speech and hate speech, or, if you wish, between vilification and the protections afforded the vilifier by the First Amendment.

Hate speech vs. free speech

(91) See Daniel Statman, "Two Concepts of Dignity" (2001) 24 Iunay Mishpat 541 at 577 (arguing that using dignity to protect the vilified seems more natural than applying it to the vilifier).

"Dignitizing" free speech in Israel: the impact of the constitutional revolution on free speech protection

Don't be shocked after a few firebrand Salafis grabbed their box of tricks, pulling a firecracker out: the virtue and vice vilifier. Egypt's morality cops arrive clucking with coruscating clacking, clamping down on crimpers and cocktail shakers whetting desire, salivating in sanctimony,

Muttering Mutaween

(106) However, I am arguing that, phenomenologically, there is an intrinsic relationship between the prejudice that a vilifier holds against the identity of the community to which they perceive their target to belong, and the ability to characterise their utterance as vilifying rather than simply offensive.

The false analogy between vilification and sedition

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