pillory

/ˈpɪləɹi/

pillory noun: a framework on a post, with holes for the hands and head, used as a means of punishment and humiliation.

Image: Michael Höfner ( Nomo ), CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

pillory (plural pillories)

(historical) A framework on a post, with holes for the hands and head, used as a means of punishment and humiliation.
- Maires and Maceris that meanes be betwene / The Kynge and the comon to kepe the lawes / To pũnyſhen on pyleries and pynning ſtoles / Bruſterrs and bakeſters, bochers and cokes / For theſe ar mẽ on this mold þᵉ moſt harme worketh / To the pore people that percel mele byghe[...][c. 1378-9, [William Langland], “[Passus 3]”, in The Vision of Pierce Plowman [...] (Cr, B-text) (in Middle English), London: […] Roberte Crowley, […], published 1550, →OCLC, folio xiii, verso
- Cros·! þou dost no trouþe ; / On a pillori· my fruit to pinne, / He haþ no spot· of Adam sinne ; / Flesch· and veines· nou fleo a-twinne, / Wherfore I· rede of routhe·:[c. 1400, “Dispute between Mary and the Cross”, in Richard Morris, editor, Legends of the Holy Rood: Symbols of the Passions and Cross Poems, stanza I, page 131

Verb

pillory (third-person singular simple present pillories, present participle pillorying, simple past and past participle pilloried)

(transitive) To put in a pillory.
(figuratively, transitive) To subject to humiliation, scorn, ridicule or abuse.
- There was no malice in my rubbish; but it laughed at the captain. It laughed at a man to whom such a thing was new and strange and dreadful. I did not know then, though I do now, that there is no suffering comparable with that which a private person feels when he is for the first time pilloried in...1883, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter 50, in Life on the Mississippi, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, →OCLC
- Mike Sarne would end up making a celluloid disasterpiece that is to this day pilloried as one of the worst films ever made.2008, Steven Daly, “Swinging into Disaster”, in Graydon Carter, editor, Vanity Fair’s Tales of Hollywood: Rebels, Reds, and Graduates and the Wild Stories Behind the Making of 13 Iconic Films...
(transitive) To criticize harshly.
- The breakthrough came through Torres who, pilloried for his miss against Manchester United a week earlier, scored his second goal of the season.2011 September 24, Aled Williams, “Chelsea 4 - 1 Swansea”, in BBC Sport
- [T]o suggest that their mere acquaintance in any way undermines Pinker’s work would be to make the kind of ad hominem fallacy that he rightfully pillories in this book.2021 September 29, Jennifer Szalai, “In ‘Rationality,’ Steven Pinker Sticks Up (Again) for Reason’s Role in Human Progress”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

pillory meaning in Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam and Persian

pillory in Tamil

தண்டனைக் கட்டை, தொழுமரம்

pillory in Bengali

প্রকাশ্যে লজ্জা দেওয়া

pillory in Malayalam

മുക്കാലി, മുക്കോൺ ചട്ടം, ദണ്ഡനാചക്രം, ദണ്ഡനചട്ടക്കൂട്

pillory in Persian

framework on a post used as a means of punishment and humiliation: قاپوق qâpuq

Forms of pillory

Noun
plural	pillories
Verb
third-person singular present	pillories
present participle	pillorying
past participle	pilloried
past	pilloried

Origin of pillory

From Middle English pilory, pillorie, from Old French pilori, pellori, which is either from Old Occitan espilori or Latin pīla (“pillar”).

Words formed from pillory

Words that rhyme with pillory

32 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about pillory

What does pillory mean?: Pillory means a framework on a post, with holes for the hands and head, used as a means of punishment and humiliation.
What is pillory in Tamil?: Pillory in Tamil is தண்டனைக் கட்டை, தொழுமரம். See Pillory meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is pillory?: Pillory can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce pillory?: Pillory is pronounced /ˈpɪləɹi/.
What is the plural of pillory?: The plural of pillory is pillories.

Words near pillory in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: pillory (page history and authors); pillory (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); pillory (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); pillory (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-pillory.wav.

Cite this entry: “pillory.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pillory. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.