revile means reproach; reviling. It carries an Arena rating of 1625, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, revile ranks #1,648 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #2,775 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #3,275 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #5,426 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words.
revile is pronounced /ɹəˈvaɪl/.
Why “revile” is a great word
To assail someone with contemptuous or abusive language with the intent to degrade and vilify. Its etymology is from Middle English revilen, from the intensifying prefix re- and Old French aviler ('to make vile or cheap, to disesteem'), from vil ('vile, cheap'). Unlike 'berate,' which suggests a superior's protracted scolding, or the dispassionate fault-finding of 'criticize,' to revile is to stage a public, scornful attack designed to strip dignity. It is the spit-flecked harangue from a crowded balcony, the venomous chorus of a mob, the calculated slur hissed across a silent room—a verbal defacement meant to brand the soul as worthless.
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.
noun
- reproach; revilinge.g.“The gracious Judge, without revile, replied.” — 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as
verb
- To attack (someone) with abusive language.e.g.“who, when he was reviled, reviled not again” — 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Peter 2:23:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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