Word.ws English Dictionary

vilipend

Syllables: vi·li·pend/ˈvɪlɪpɛnd/US/ˈvɪləˌpɛnd/

vilipend verb: to treat (something) as inconsequential or worthless; to despise, to look down on.

vilipend: girl in white crew neck shirt
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Verb

vilipend (third-person singular simple present vilipends, present participle vilipending, simple past and past participle vilipended)

  1. (dated, formal, transitive) To treat (something) as inconsequential or worthless; to despise, to look down on.
  2. (dated, formal, transitive) To express a disparaging opinion of; to slander or vilify.
    • But we desire, most unhesitatingly to condemn and vilipend a system of continual abuse, intended to fall upon the provincial Government, but in reality reaching and injuring the public at large.1853 July 10, “Evil Birds”, in The Colonist, New Zealand: Nelson, page 4
    • But, for all their feint of nonchalance, these young persons have no other task in life but to explain and extol their own conduct and to vilipend their critics and opponents.1917, O. W. Firkins, The Nation, The Nation Company, page 176

vilipend meaning in Tamil and Urdu

vilipend in Tamil

தரக்குறைவாக

vilipend in Urdu

گھٹیا رائے ظاہر کرنا

Synonyms of vilipend

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of vilipend

Forms of vilipend

third-person singular presentvilipends
present participlevilipending
past participlevilipended
pastvilipended
third-person singular present (archaic)vilipendeth

Origin of vilipend

From Middle English vilipenden (“to treat (something) as contemptible”) [and other forms], from Old French vilipender (modern French vilipender (“to condemn, despise, revile, scorn, vilipend, vilify”)), or its etymon Latin vilipendō, from vīlis (“cheap, inexpensive; base, mean, vile, worthless”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wes- (“to buy, sell”)) + pendō (“to hang, suspend; to weigh, weigh out; (figuratively) to consider, ponder”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- (“to stretch”)). The English word is cognate with Italian vilipendere (“to despise, scorn, vilipend”), Portuguese vilipendiar (“to vilify”), Spanish vilipendiar (“to vilify”).

Words formed from vilipend

Questions about vilipend

What does vilipend mean?
Vilipend means to treat (something) as inconsequential or worthless; to despise, to look down on.
What is vilipend in Tamil?
Vilipend in Tamil is தரக்குறைவாக. See Vilipend meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is vilipend?
Vilipend is a verb.
How do you pronounce vilipend?
Vilipend is pronounced /ˈvɪlɪpɛnd/ (UK).
What is the past tense of vilipend?
The past tense of vilipend is vilipended.

Words near vilipend in the dictionary

  1. vilifyingly
  2. vilifyings
  3. viliorate
  4. viliorated
  5. viliorates
  6. vilipend
  7. vilipended
  8. vilipendency
  9. vilipender
  10. vilipenders
  11. vilipendeth

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: vilipend (page history and authors); vilipend (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); vilipend (Urdu 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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-vilipend.wav.

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