as in defamation
the making of false statements that damage another's reputation
the nonstop vilifying had the effect of making some people sympathetic to the victim
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in insulting
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in smearing
to make untrue and harmful statements about
claimed that she had been vilified by the press because of her conservative views
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vilifying
Noun
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Baldoni is suing her and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for defamation.—
J. Kim Murphy,
Variety,
8 Mar. 2025 -
Some of those lies have been costly: In 2023, Fox News settled with Dominion Voting Systems in a defamation lawsuit, paying almost $800 million to avoid trial, according to The Associated Press.—
Carolyn Komatsoulis,
Idaho Statesman,
8 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Even more difficult in the day-to-day is Donald Trump’s relentless and insulting commentary.—
Ken Dryden,
The Atlantic,
23 Feb. 2025
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The incredibly insulting idea of canceling the name of the prolific U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde was bad enough.—
Naperville Sun,
Chicago Tribune,
21 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Freedman has suggested that Gottlieb was responsible, at least in part, for the bombshell New York Times article regarding Lively’s accusations against Baldoni, who is currently suing the publication for libel and false light invasion of privacy.—
Larisha Paul,
Rolling Stone,
3 Feb. 2025
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Baldoni is suing Lively, Reynolds, and their PR rep for defamation and extortion, as well as the NYT for libel.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
22 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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While handcuffing and removing the belts and shoelaces of deportees is standard practice in this type of operation, both Oquendo and Barrientos feel they were treated in a demeaning way by US immigration officials, especially when boarding the military flight in the early hours of Sunday.—
Stefano Pozzebon,
CNN,
29 Jan. 2025
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How Sculptor Meta Warrick Challenged White Supremacy A 1907 exhibition on the founding of Jamestown featured the work of an artist determined to counter demeaning stereotypes.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
20 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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The 2023 Economic Report Of The President published in March of 2023 was relatively disparaging of cryptoassets and DLTs.—
Lawrence Wintermeyer,
Forbes,
5 Dec. 2024
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Prior to appearing on Cunningham's show on Monday, Huggins made more disparaging remarks about Xavier.—
Emily DeLetter,
The Enquirer,
10 May 2023
Noun
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Why is the American state so susceptible to vilification?—
Jon D. Michaels,
Foreign Affairs,
15 Aug. 2017
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Businesses benefiting from minority funding programs are also in line to experience the shockwaves of the President’s vilification of what fellow conservatives view as the infiltration of wokeism into American culture and politics necessitating an end to policies promoting affirmative action.—
Gus Alexiou,
Forbes,
23 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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In Britain, Musk has called for the release of Tommy Robinson, a far-right extremist who was jailed for 18 months in October for repeating a libelous claim about a Syrian refugee schoolboy attacking girls.—
Kim Hjelmgaard,
USA TODAY,
7 Jan. 2025
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Robinson was sentenced late last year to a year and a half in prison due to violating a court order prohibiting him from repeating libelous allegations about a Syrian refugee, and Musk has been calling for his release.—
Tara Suter,
The Hill,
6 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Many of the conspiracy theories have prompted FEMA to create a page on its site discrediting rumors and false information about its response to Hurricane Helene.—
Nicole Sganga,
CBS News,
14 Oct. 2024
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Still, the United States didn’t recognize Haiti as a nation until 1862, during the Civil War, when American leadership was looking for any support in discrediting slavery.—
Chadd Scott,
Forbes,
10 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Vilifying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vilifying. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.
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