vilify

Etymology

From Late Latin vīlificāre, present active infinitive of vīlificō (“vilify”).

verb

1. (transitive) To say defamatory things about someone or something; to speak ill of.
2. (transitive) To belittle through speech; to put down.
   "Those who deliberately vilify China and sabotage the friendship between our two countries and do damage to our long-term friendship and benefits out of their sectoral or selfish interest will be cast aside in history,” he said. “Their children will be ashamed of mentioning their names." March 2, 2021, Jason Scott, 王晰宁 [Wang Xining], “China Rips Murdoch’s News Corp. for Reports on Pandemic Origins”, in Bloomberg News, archived from the original on 2021-03-03