revile

revile

English

Etymology

From Middle English revilen, from re + Old French aviler (“to make vile or cheap, disprize, disesteem”), from a- (“to”) + vil (“vile, cheap”); see vile.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹəˈvaɪl/
• Rhymes: -aɪl

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Verb

revile (third-person singular simple present reviles, present participle reviling, simple past and past participle reviled)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To attack (someone) with abusive language.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, 1 Peter 2:23:

     who, when he was reviled, reviled not again

   • c. 1594, William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene iv]:

     And did not she herself revile me there?

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:defame

Translations

to attack with abusive language

Bulgarian: ругая (bg) (rugaja), хокам (bg) (hokam) Catalan: insultar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 斥責／斥责 (zh) (chìzé), 辱罵／辱骂 (zh) (rǔmà), 謾罵／谩骂 (zh) (mànmà) Dutch: uitschelden (nl) French: insulter (fr) Galician: insultar (gl) German: schmähen (de), beschimpfen (de), verunglimpfen (de), stänkern gegen Gothic: 𐌹𐌳𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (idweitjan) Greek: Ancient: λοιδορέω (loidoréō), βλασφημέω (blasphēméō), κακορροθέω (kakorrhothéō) Ido: insultar (io) Irish: imdhearg Italian: insultare (it), vituperare (it) Maori: whakarihariha Polish: piętnować (pl) impf, napiętnować pf, lżyć (pl) impf, zelżyć (pl) pf Portuguese: insultar (pt) Russian: поноси́ть (ru) impf (ponosítʹ) (not to confuse with a homonymous pf. verb) Sanskrit: पीयति (pīyati) Spanish: insultar (es), putear (es) (Am.) Swedish: smäda (sv), skymfa (sv), håna (sv), åkväda

Noun

revile (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) reproach; reviling
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:

     The gracious Judge, without revile, replied.

Translations

reproach

Bulgarian: хокане (bg) n (hokane) Spanish: reprochar (es)

Further reading

• revile in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• revile in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

Anagrams

• eviler, levier, liever, relive, veiler