Make Your Point > Archived Issues > VILIFY

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explore the archives: Because vilify basically means "to talk about people as if they're villains," you might think that vilify is related to villain. But the similarity is a coincidence. Vilify is, however, related to vile--which makes even more sense because when you use vile words to talk about how people are vile, you're vilifying them. Vilify's suffix, "-ify," is much easier to interpret. It means to make or to become. Could you recall these other "-ify" words? To become rigid and unchanging is to ca__ify. To become more complex, with more branches or sub-parts, is to r__ify. make your point with... "VILIFY" To vilify people (or to vilify things) is to use harsh words to talk about how bad they are. Pronunciation: VILL if eye Part of speech: Transitive verb. (Like "eat," "try," and "want," all transitive verbs do something to an object. You eat a banana, try a game, and want a new phone. Likewise, you vilify something or someone.) Other forms: vilified, vilifying, vilification How to use it: Generally you vilify people: employees vilified the company president in one editorial after another, candidates vilify each other nonstop, society vilifies addicts instead of helping them. You can also vilify companies and other groups, laws and policies, and more abstract things like someone's opinion or the concept of our right to carry weapons. Often you're vilifying people as having certain bad qualities, or vilifying people for doing something bad: "She was vilified as a greedy opportunist." "She was vilified for taking bribes and switching sides." We often use "vilify" in the passive voice: "he was vilified," "they were vilified by their opponents." But if you can use the active voice instead and still convey the meaning and emphasis you intend, then do: "their opponents vilified them." Finally, notice that we don't bother vilifying things that everyone already agrees are vile. You wouldn't talk about vilifying Hitler, hate crimes, cancer, or mosquitoes, for example. We all despise those already. Instead, you vilify people and things whose vileness--you believe--still needs to be exposed. examples: Vilified on Twitter for his insensitive remarks about women, he quickly apologized. But the damage to his reputation was done. Somehow, Redditors simultaneously vilify and adore Nicolas Cage movies. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "vilify" means when you can explain it without saying "expose the vileness of" or "slander." try it out: Think of the last time you noticed the media criticizing a company or a famous person. Fill in the blanks: "The (article/post/segment) vilifies (a particular company or person) for (doing something bad)."  Example: "The post vilifies Smoothie King for passing off egregiously unhealthy drinks as healthy." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. Language Techniques: When language sounds beautiful or memorable, often there’s some particular technique responsible for that effect. Each day this month, I’ll give you a specific stylistic technique or quality, and I’d like you to recreate (as closely as you can) the quote that I’ve botched by removing it. We’ll work our way from the easiest to the hardest techniques. Enjoy! From yesterday: Normally you expect lists to sound like this: "A, B, and C." While asyndeton omits all the connecting words ("A, B, C"), polysyndeton puts them everywhere ("A and B and C"). Here's some polysyndeton from the book of Ecclesiastes: "I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all." Put the polysyndeton back into these sentences from Antoine de Saint Exupéry's The Little Prince: "Then I would never talk to that person about boa constrictors, primeval forests, or stars. I would bring myself down to his level. I would talk to him about bridge, golf, politics, and neckties." Answer: Repeat the conjunctions at every opportunity: "Then I would never talk to that person about boa constrictors, or primeval forests, or stars. I would bring myself down to his level. I would talk to him about bridge, and golf, and politics, and neckties." Try this one today: Part repetition, part parallelism, chiasmus involves repeating in reverse order some of the words you just used, as in "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail" (Ben Franklin) and "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." Oh, and you can't talk about chiasmus without quoting Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." Shakespeare didn't write, "Suit the action to the word and vice versa." What's the real version of that dictum? review today's word: 1. The opposite of VILIFY is A. TERRIFY B. GLORIFY C. SCARIFY 2. It _____ us to see fans and coaches vilifying players who react appropriately to concussions. A. gratifies B. amuses C. baffles Answers are below. a final word: To be a sponsor and send your own message to readers of this list, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: Word meanings presented here are expressed in plain language and are limited to common, useful applications only. Readers interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words are encouraged to check a dictionary. Likewise, word meanings, usage, and pronunciations are limited to American English; these elements may vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. B 2. C