Reviling

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Expressing strong hatred or abusive language towards someone or something
2. Using harsh words to show deep disapproval or contempt
3. Speaking in a way that conveys severe criticism or bitter hostility

Etymology: "Reviling" is the present participle of "revile," and the verb carries a surprisingly literal sense in its ancestry: it is built around the idea of making something cheap. Its Old French ancestor "aviler" meant to lower in value or to make vile, from "a-" (to) and "vil" (cheap, base), the same root that gave English "vile" itself. The original act was one of disparagement in the economic sense, reducing a thing's worth, before it became the act of heaping abuse on a person. English borrowed the verb in the Middle Ages as "revilen," with the prefix "re-" added to the Old French stem. The prefix intensifies or repeats the action, so the verb sounds like a forceful, repeated devaluing of someone's reputation. Over time the sense narrowed from general disparagement to verbal abuse aimed at a target, and that is the meaning the participle carries today.

Synonyms: vilification, slander

Antonyms: praise