as in smeared
to make untrue and harmful statements about
claimed that she had been vilified by the press because of her conservative views
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Recent Examples of vilified
John Miranda, executive vice president at Jofran, is frustrated by rhetoric that has vilified importers like his.
—
Matt Egan, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2025
Trump has long vilified Portland as the seat of the far left, since peaceful protests in the wake of George Floyd’s 2020 police killing devolved into riots and stretched on for months.
—Ella Lee, The Hill, 5 Oct. 2025
Cleopatra, who was respected in Egypt but vilified in Roman accounts, promoted the cult of Isis and Osiris, and artifacts from her rule have been found at the site.
—Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 26 Sep. 2025
She has been valorized and vilified in equal measure throughout her life.
—Daniel Jonah Wolpert, NPR, 8 Sep. 2025
Undocumented immigrants are sometimes vilified while their employers escape criticism, according to Bradley, a retired attorney whose career represented business interests.
—Rick Barrett, jsonline.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Israel is not merely charged with war crimes — it is vilified as a genocidal regime, guilty of starving and killing civilians en masse.
—Avi Weiss, New York Daily News, 10 Aug. 2025
Fast forward to today—on the heels of a decades-long conservative family values movement—and that very same clinic is now being vilified by conservative religious leaders.
—Time, 7 Aug. 2025
Ultraprocessed foods have already been vilified for their link to obesity—largely through weaker observational studies—but researchers have struggled to shore up the connection with high-quality studies and understand their impact on health.
—Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 5 Aug. 2025
Matt Egan, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2025
Trump has long vilified Portland as the seat of the far left, since peaceful protests in the wake of George Floyd’s 2020 police killing devolved into riots and stretched on for months.
—Ella Lee, The Hill, 5 Oct. 2025
Cleopatra, who was respected in Egypt but vilified in Roman accounts, promoted the cult of Isis and Osiris, and artifacts from her rule have been found at the site.
—Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 26 Sep. 2025
She has been valorized and vilified in equal measure throughout her life.
—Daniel Jonah Wolpert, NPR, 8 Sep. 2025
Undocumented immigrants are sometimes vilified while their employers escape criticism, according to Bradley, a retired attorney whose career represented business interests.
—Rick Barrett, jsonline.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Israel is not merely charged with war crimes — it is vilified as a genocidal regime, guilty of starving and killing civilians en masse.
—Avi Weiss, New York Daily News, 10 Aug. 2025
Fast forward to today—on the heels of a decades-long conservative family values movement—and that very same clinic is now being vilified by conservative religious leaders.
—Time, 7 Aug. 2025
Ultraprocessed foods have already been vilified for their link to obesity—largely through weaker observational studies—but researchers have struggled to shore up the connection with high-quality studies and understand their impact on health.
—Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 5 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vilified
Verb
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Look closely near the corners or edges of the frame for a blurry patch, smeared light, or a soft square that looks slightly out of focus — that’s where the watermark used to be.—
Jennifer Jolly,
USA Today,
20 Oct. 2025
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Police entered the home on a welfare check and noticed blood smeared on the walls and furniture scattered across the living room.—
Caroline Blair,
PEOPLE,
18 Oct. 2025
Verb
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On Thursday, the president’s lawyers refiled a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against the New York Times, alleging its reporters have knowingly and maliciously maligned his achievements.—
Todd Spangler,
Variety,
17 Oct. 2025
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Raiola gave credit to his receivers, to Johnson and to the offensive line, maligned after he was sacked 12 times in the previous two weeks.—
Mitch Sherman,
New York Times,
12 Oct. 2025
Verb
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By the time the cameras stopped clicking and the newsmen flew home, Kentucky had been humiliated in the national press, the onlooker’s violence both disputed and affirmed in accounts of this day.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 Oct. 2025
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LaBella alleges that she was traumatized and humiliated by the experience.—
Gene Maddaus,
Variety,
16 Oct. 2025
Verb
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And so farewell, disgraced ex-State Police Sgt.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
15 Oct. 2025
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Set to shoot next year, the series follows Weaving as Alan Armstrong — a brilliant but disgraced lawyer who’s forced to represent a dog on death row, setting him on an unexpected path toward redemption and self-discovery.—
Ben Croll,
Variety,
13 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Dearborn has often been slandered for simply coexisting peacefully, because the truth is, some people are uncomfortable, and frankly upset about seeing church steeples and mosque domes share the same skyline on roads.—
Niraj Warikoo,
Freep.com,
24 Sep. 2025
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Moreno calls accusations ‘slander’ In a statement provided to The Bee, Moreno denied the accusations and said she was being slandered.—
Nicole Nixon,
Sacbee.com,
9 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Vilified.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vilified. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.
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