pillory
English
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pillory
- /ˈpɪləɹi/
Sounds like pillary · Rhymes with -ɪləɹi
Where it comes from
From Middle English pilory, pillorie, from Old French pilori, pellori, which is either from Old Occitan espilori or Latin pīla (“pillar”).
noun pillories
- 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[...]
verb pillories · pillorying · pilloried
- To put in a pillory.
- 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 p
- 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.
Translations
Every language
noun framework on a post used as a means of punishment and humiliation
| Español | cepo f picota |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | さらし台 sarashidai |
| 中文 | 頸手枷 /颈手枷 jǐngshǒujiā, 頭手迦 /头手迦 tóushǒujiā |
| Português | pelourinho, cepo |
| Français | pilori |
| Deutsch | Pranger, Schandpfahl |
| Italiano | gogna |
| Ελληνικά | κύφωνας kýfonas |
| Русский | позо́рный столб pozórnyj stolb |
verb put someone in a pillory
| Deutsch | an den Pranger stellen |
|---|
verb subject someone to humiliation, scorn, ridicule or abuse
| Español | poner en la picota |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | an den Pranger stellen |
verb criticize harshly
| Français | mettre au pilori, clouer au pilori |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | anprangern, an den Pranger stellen |
| Ελληνικά | στηλιτεύω stilitévo |
| Русский | бичева́ть bičevátʹ |
Talk about this word "pillory." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pillory. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. pillory. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pillory "pillory." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pillory.Cite this
@misc{pillory_2026,
title = {pillory},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pillory},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
