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
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
While Sandu’s leadership has won her admiration in Brussels, she has been vilified by the Kremlin.
—Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 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
Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 26 Sep. 2025
While Sandu’s leadership has won her admiration in Brussels, she has been vilified by the Kremlin.
—Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 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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Shohreh Dupuis left her job as city manager of Laguna Beach two years ago, in the wake of a squabble with a city council member, a threat of a harassment lawsuit, and an inquiry into into how her house came to be smeared with feces.—
Michael Slaten,
Oc Register,
14 Sep. 2025
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Laptop screens get spattered, smeared, dusty, and dirty from frequent use.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
9 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Kennedy's rhetoric on autism has been embraced by some corners of the autism community and maligned in others.—
Zac Anderson,
USA Today,
22 Sep. 2025
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In other past social media posts, Kirk maligned hate speech as a weapon that liberals used to punish conservatives for their free speech.—
Ross O'Keefe,
The Washington Examiner,
18 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Sitting in class next to a star athlete destined for Division I football, the future comedy mogul listened as his teacher publicly humiliated him in front of his peers.—
Essence,
Essence,
2 Oct. 2025
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Is he humiliated by being asked to leave surreptitiously for Olivia’s amusement, or is this a game for him too?—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
26 Sep. 2025
Verb
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She is being held at the same facility as disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, who was sentenced to 11 years and 3 months in prison for defrauding investors with her medical startup.—
Lynsey Eidell,
PEOPLE,
18 Sep. 2025
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An excessive force lawsuit against a former San Jose cop disgraced by a racist texting scandal is set to resume, after a federal court ruling last week affirmed the ex-officer is not shielded from litigation in his controversial 2022 shooting of an aspiring college football player.—
Robert Salonga,
Mercury News,
16 Sep. 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 6 Oct. 2025.
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