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
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
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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Laptop screens get spattered, smeared, dusty, and dirty from frequent use.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
9 Sep. 2025
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Jason’s windshield was smeared, and the late-afternoon sunlight came through hazily.—
Akhil Sharma,
New Yorker,
28 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The dam broke Saturday night for the Dodgers’ maligned offense, even with Logan Webb pitching.—
Fabian Ardaya,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
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In addition to political persecution, returning Venezuelans would reenter a country teetering on collapse—maligned by hyperinflation, soaring unemployment, rampant crime, frequent power outages, water shortages and chronic scarcities of food and medicine.—
Antonio Maria Delgado,
Miami Herald,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
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All that to be humiliated in the Orlando bubble?—
Mirjam Swanson,
Oc Register,
4 Sep. 2025
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Inter Miami, clearly humiliated, let out its frustrations after the final whistle, when several Miami players, led by Luis Suarez, got into a scuffle with Seattle players.—
Michelle Kaufman,
Miami Herald,
1 Sep. 2025
Verb
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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
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The District 7 race for disgraced former Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson’s seat is likely headed for a recount, with third-place finisher Mavrick Afonso making a formal request Monday based on his narrow 20-vote defeat.—
Gayla Cawley,
Boston Herald,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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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 20 Sep. 2025.
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