REVILE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does revile mean? 

• REVILE (verb)
  The verb REVILE has 1 sense:

1. spread negative information about

  Familiarity information: REVILE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• REVILE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they revile    ... he / she / it reviles   
Past simple: reviled   
Past participle: reviled   
-ing form: reviling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Spread negative information about

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

rail; revile; vilify; vituperate

Context example:

The Nazi propaganda vilified the Jews

Hypernyms (to "revile" is one way to...):

abuse; blackguard; clapperclaw; shout (use foul or abusive language towards)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

revilement (a rude expression intended to offend or hurt)

 Context examples 

It took Johansen, insulting and reviling the poor wretch, fully ten minutes to get him started again.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I see you can say nothing in the first place, you are faint still, and have enough to do to draw your breath; in the second place, you cannot yet accustom yourself to accuse and revile me, and besides, the flood-gates of tears are opened, and they would rush out if you spoke much; and you have no desire to expostulate, to upbraid, to make a scene: you are thinking how to act—talking you consider is of no use.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

John no one thwarted, much less punished; though he twisted the necks of the pigeons, killed the little pea-chicks, set the dogs at the sheep, stripped the hothouse vines of their fruit, and broke the buds off the choicest plants in the conservatory: he called his mother old girl, too; sometimes reviled her for her dark skin, similar to his own; bluntly disregarded her wishes; not unfrequently tore and spoiled her silk attire; and he was still her own darling.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)