Forms: 3–4 vil (3 uil, 4 wil), 3–5 vyl (5 wyl), 5–6 vyll; 3–7 vyle (4 uyle, 5–6 Sc. wyle), 3– vile (3–4 file, 4–5 wile, 5 Sc. wille). [a. AF. and OF. (also mod.F.) vil masc., vile fem. (= Pr., Sp., Pg. vil, It. vile):—L. vīlem, vīlis of low value or price, cheap, common, mean, base.]
A. adj. 1. Of actions, conduct, character, etc.: Despicable on moral grounds; deserving to be regarded with abhorrence or disgust; characterized by baseness or depravity.
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 192/4. Þare ne scholde vil dede ne word neuere fram hire wende.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 4504. Modred … huld hire in spousbruche, in vyl flesses dede. Ibid., 10003. He suor he wolde awreke be of þis vil trespas.
1303. R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 1586. Here wurdys were al vyle & waste.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XIV. 79. So vengeaunce fel vpon hem, for her vyle synnes. Ibid. (1393), C. XXI. 97. Thenne gan faith foully þe false Iewes to despisen, And calde hem ‘caytifs a-corsed,’ for þis was a vil vilanye.
c. 1450. Holland, Howlat, 226. The Sparrowe Wenus he wesit for his vyle deidis, Lyand in lichory, laith, vnloveable.
1477. Caxton, Dictes, 67. Summe thinges that ye loue & preyse ar euil and vyle.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 65. These wycked theues … cloke al this abomination … with the couer of Christianitie, which is the vylest and moste vnworthiest thing, that can be imagined.
a. 1586. Sidney, Psalms V. iv. Let their vile thoughts the thinckers ruine be.
1625. Bacon, Ess., Envy (Arb.), 517. It is also the vilest Affection, and the most depraued.
1651. Hobbes, Leviath., II. xviii. 89. Not onely an act of an unjust, but also of a vile, and unmanly disposition.
1671. Milton, Samson, 376. If aught seem vile, As vile hath been my folly, who have profan’d The mystery of God.
1727. De Foe, Hist. Appar., iii. (1840), 22. Turning the whole frame of nature upside down by his vile doings there.
1784. Cowper, Tiroc., 761. Within some pious pastor’s humble cot, Where vile example … May never more be stamp’d upon his breast.
1838. Lytton, Alice, 82. I see already that from the world, vile as it is, you have nothing of contagion to fear.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, xxxiii. That abandoned wretch,… of whose vile arts he became a victim.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., v. I. 555. The Earl’s past life had been stained by what they regarded as the vilest apostasy.
b. Used to qualify nouns denoting faults of mind or character. rare.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter, ix. 1. A vile errour it is þat sum men says that god does vnrightwisly. Ibid., xv. 1. Here is þe vile pride of men confoundid.
1567. Satir. Poems Reform., iv. 91. Quhat sall I wryte of ȝoure wyle vanitie?
c. Of names, etc.: Implying (moral) baseness or depravity.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 383. This greved the moste, yt their religion was described by so vile & contemptuouse a name.
1590. Shaks., Mids. N., II. ii. 107. Where is Demetrius? oh how fit a word Is that vile name, to perish on my sword!
1743. Bulkeley & Cummins, Voy. S. Seas, Pref. p. xvi. The Gentleman … represented us to the English Merchants in a very vile Light.
a. 1800[?]. A. Young, in Baxter, Libr. Pract. Agric. (1846), II. p. xxiv. I am disgusted with such vile assertions.
1868. Freeman, Norm. Conq. (1877), II. vii. 104. This was the vilest epithet in the English language.
2. Of persons: Of a low, base or despicable character; morally depraved or degraded; capable of the basest conduct.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 1153. Wit all þou sal bi halden vile, Quarsa þou wendes in exile.
1303. R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 2597. Ȝyf an okerer myȝt founde be, Þey helde hym vyler þan a Iew.
c. 1330. Arth. & Merl., 8738 (Kölbing). Leggeþ on þe traitours vile, Spareþ nouȝt, ac sle doun riȝt.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 186. Þan sall þat victoure ȝow venge on ȝour vile fais.
c. 1425. Wyntoun, Cron., II. 731. Repruffand thaim as sottis wille … For to lieff it fayntly, And leif lownderaris caytefly.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, xx. 14. In cumpany cheiss honorable feiris, And fra vyle folkis draw the far on syd.
1535. Coverdale, Job xv. 16. An abhominable and vyle man, which dryncketh wickednesse like water.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 237 b. Freers vile in lyfe and learnyng.
1603. Dekker, Batchelars Banquet, Wks. (Grosart), I. 156. I pray thee wife tell me, where lies thy griefe?… wherevpon the vile woman fetching a deepe sigh, makes this answere.
1677. Earl Essex, in Essex Papers (Camden), II. 133. There is a vile woman who has bin guilty of severall wicked practices here.
1708. Prior, Turtle & Sparrow, 429. Notions like these, from Men are giv’n, Those vilest Creatures under Heav’n.
a. 1715. Burnet, Own Time (1766), II. 47. I was against the making use of so vile a man.
1807. Crabbe, Par. Reg., III. 578. A victim to the snare, That vile attorneys for the weak prepare.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., v. I. 591. In every age the vilest specimens of human nature are to be found among demagogues.
1883. Stevenson, Silverado Sq. (1886), 37. With that vile lad to head them off,… they would have … stumbled through the woods.
absol. 1817. Moore, Lalla R., Fire-Worshippers, ii. 278. Bondage grows Too vile for ev’n the vile to bear!
b. Applied to animals, esp. of a destructive or dangerous nature.
13[?]. Sir Beues (A.), 2624. Par-fore hii deide in dedli sinne…. After in a lite while Þai be-come dragouns vile.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. XXI. 158. Of alle fretynge venymes þe vilest is þe scorpion.
c. 1450. Holland, Howlat, 88. The Howlet wylest in wyce, Raikit vnder the rys.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, XI. 287. Lordis, behald, inwy the wyle dragoun, In cruell fyr he byrnys this regioun.
3. Physically repulsive, esp. through filth or corruption; horrid, disgusting.
Also depreciatingly applied to the body.
a. 1300. Sarmun, iii., in E. E. P. (1862), 1. To be-hend if we wold loke, wel file hit is þat of us come. Ibid., iv. Hit is wel vile þat commiþ vte.
13[?]. Seuen Sages (W.), 1353. Was nowt the boi of wit bereued, Whan he tok his fader heued, In a vil gonge slong hit inne?
c. 1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 610. Ilk man … Suld thynk of þe wrechednes of his kynde, Þat es foul, and vile, and wlatsom.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, ii. (Paul), 773. At his mastere askit he, quhar-for his birth [sc. a frog] wes sa wile, sa foule, and sa horribyle.
c. 1425. Wyntoun, Cron., II. 576. In þar bledderis bolnyt bilis And alkyn bruk and skab þat wile is.
1535. Coverdale, Phil. iii. 21. Which shal chaunge oure vyle body, yt it maye be like fashioned vnto his glorious body.
1553. Eden, Treat. New Ind. (Arb.), 17. The Image … is surely a thing most vyle to beholde, and no less terrible.
1560. Bible (Genev.), Wisd. xi. 13. They … worshiped serpents, that had not the vse of reason, & vile beastes.
16[?]. Sir W. Mure, Sonn., xi. 2. Name spotted, fame defyld,… Too long in such a carioun vyle inclois’d.
1637. Prynne, Will, in Documents agst. P. (Camden), 96. My vile body I bequeath to the dust.
c. 1738. Wesley’s Hymns (1744), 129. Array’d in glorious Grace Shall these vile Bodies shine.
1746. Francis, trans. Horace, Epist., II. ii. 106. Hence runs a madding Dog…: Thence a vile Pig polluted with the Mire.
b. Of clothes, etc.: Mean, wretched.
1526. Tindale, Jas. ii. 2. A man … in goodly apparell and … a poore man in vyle rayment.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 465 b. They put upon him a most vile garment.
1591. Spenser, M. Hubberd, 465. Farre vnfit it is, that person bace Should with vile cloaths approach Gods maiestie.
1783. Crabbe, Village, I. 204. Such is that room … Where the vile bands that bind the thatch are seen, And lath and mud are all that lie between.
1819. Shelley, Cenci, V. i. 85. I will pass, wrapped in a vile disguise; Rags on my back.
4. Of conditions, situations, trentment, etc.: Base or degrading in character or effect; ignominious. Durance vile: see DURANCE 5.
1197. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 4374. Wanne hii wolde … noblemen, as ȝe beþ, bringe in so vil seruage.
1340. Ayenb., 18. Huo þet him let ouercome be his ulesse, he is ine a wel zorȝuol þreldome and wel vil.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 2140. Hit sittis vs all, For to proffer our persons & our pure goodes, To venge of our velany and our vile harme.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., i. 146. Thou has vs doyn a vyle dispyte, and broght thi self to sorow and sitt.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 83. Many thousandes of men … lead away in so miserable & vyle captivitie.
1653. R. Sanders, Physiogn., Moles, xlviii. 15. A Mole appearing on the lower part, or tip of the right Ear…. To a woman it predicts her to be guilty of man-slaughter; if it appear much on the outside, she is desperately forlorn, and of most vile conditions.
1718. Prior, Henry & Emma, 616. Rescue my poor Remains from vile Neglect.
1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, II. ii. Such base-born children … ought to be brought up to the lowest and vilest offices of the Commonwealth.
1770–94. [see DURANCE 5].
1784. Cowper, Tiroc., 456. To work at a vile trade For wages so unlikely to be paid.
1879. Farrar, St. Paul (1883), 689. He had been a slave, in the vilest of all positions.
5. Of things: Of little worth or account; mean or paltry in respect of value; held in no esteem or regard. Also absol.
c. 1320. Cast. Love, 1112. Woldestou þi finger ȝeue,… So vnworþ and so vyl chaffare to bugge?
1340. Ayenb., 82. Hi ne conne … deme … betuene precious an vil.
1390. Gower, Conf., Prol. I. 33. This world … That whilom was so magnefied, And now is old and fieble and vil.
1426. Lydg., De Guil. Pilgr., 21132. A thyng of no valu, And … Most wyl off reputacioun.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 6 b. The transytory honours of this worlde sholde appere to vs vyle and nought.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 233 b. That doctryne began to waxe vyle to him every day more and more.
1670. Moral State Eng., 24. Who contemneth Religion as a vile thing? who never nameth God but in his Oaths or Burlesque?
a. 1677. Barrow, Exp. Creed (1697), 23. The vilest and commonest stones.
1678. R. Barclay, Apol. Quakers, v. § 23. 171. That it may cut off Iniquity from him, and separate betwixt the Precious and the Vile.
1700. Rowe, Amb. Step-Moth., I. i. 261. All returns are vile, but Words the poorest. Ibid., 424. Everlasting Fame Grows vile in sight of thee.
1784. Cowper, Task, V. 589. That low And sordid gravitation of his pow’rs To a vile clod.
1818. Shelley, Rosal. & Helen, 667. All that others seek He casts away, like a vile weed Which the sea casts unreturningly.
1867. Morris, Jason, VI. 388. And all the feasts that thou hast shared erewhile With other kings, to mine shall be but vile.
1878. Browning, La Saisiaz, 75. Thou sea, wherein he counts Not one inch of vile dominion.
b. Similarly of persons (or animals).
1340. Ayenb., 132. Þe zoþe milde wyle by hyalde uor vyl, naȝt ase milde y-praysed.
1390. Gower, Conf., Prol. I. 112. To so vil a povere wrecche Him deigneth schewe such simplesce.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., VI. xiv. (Bodl. MS.). Soche children for trespas be made vile pore seruauntes.
c. 1480. Henryson, Fables, Lion & Mouse, 10. Thow catyve wreche, and wyle vnworthy thing.
1540–1. Elyot, Image Gov., 8. His bondemen and moste vile servauntes.
1548. Latimer, Ploughers (Arb.), 27. Appoynte them Judges that are moost abiecte and vyle in the congregation.
1579. Spenser, Sheph. Cal., Oct., 37. Abandon then the base and viler clowne, Lyft vp thy selfe out of the lowly dust.
1653. W. Ramesey, Astrol. Restored, 245. They shall be indigent, poor and vile.
1674. Govt. Tongue, iii. 20. Tis God only that hath power of annihilation, and we (vile worms) seek here to steal that incommunicable right.
1718. Pope, Iliad, II. 235. But if a clamorous vile plebeian rose, Him with reproof he check’d, or tamed with blows.
† c. Cheap, low (in price). Obs.
1490[?]. Rule St. Benet (Caxton), 134. To bye suche cloth that is made in that countre or prouynce, of the vilest and lyghtest pryce.
1551. Crowley, Pleas. & Pain, 185. In euery place Ye made my bloude vylar then golde.
1598. Grenewey, Tacitus, Ann., VI. iv. (1622), 127. The value of lands was rated at a very low and vile price.
1601. B. Jonson, Ev. Man in his Hum., I. i. 61. For he thats so respectlesse in his course Oft sels his reputation vile and cheape.
6. Of poor or bad quality; wretchedly bad or inferior.
Now freq, used as an intensive to express strong disapproval or disgust.
a. 1300. Leg. Rood (1871), 34. Þe tre was vil and old.
13[?]. K. Alis., 5953 (Laud MS.). Þorouȝ goddes wrethe [they] shoten away, In to þat vile contreye.
c. 1400. Laud Troy Bk., 7274. I-wis thei hadde a vile nyȝt; It myȝt haue ben no worse wedur, Off heuene & erthe hadde gon to-gedur.
c. 1400. Rule of St. Benet 2020. Schos þai sall haue…. Of þe farest þai sal not by, Bot þe vilist.
1521. Bradshaw’s St. Werburge, Prol. 20. [He] toke the payne and laboure Thy legende to translate … Out of latine in Englisshe rude and vyle.
1551. Turner, Herbal, 115. Cistus … that cummeth out of arabia … is viler then the other be.
1700. Prior, Carm. Sec., iv. With the Blood of Jove there always ran Some viler Part, some Tincture of the Man.
1746. Francis, trans. Hor., Sat., II. v. 121. Writes he vile Verses in a frantic Vein?
1756. C. Lucas, Ess. Waters, III. 259. This vile structure was, this year, removed.
1818. Scott, Br. Lamm., xvii. This appearance of Craigengelt … is a most vile augury for his future respectability.
1841. Barham, Ingol. Leg., Ser. II. Auto-da-fé. A Vile compound … called Olla podrida.
1851. Ruskin, Stones Ven. (1874), I. viii. 91. The vile cathedral of Orleans.
1903. Lord Rosebery, in Times, 10 Jan., 6/6. It is scarcely possible to conceive a viler day than has been appointed for our festivity this evening.
b. Used as an intensive emphasizing some bad quality or condition; † also, heavy, severe.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 4164. Þan fandis he furth,… Come to a velans vale þare was a vile cheele.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 1249. The bourder of his basnet [he] brestes in sonder, And videt the viser with a vile dynt.
1601. Shaks., Jul. C., II. i. 265. Will he steale out of his wholsome bed To dare the vile contagion of the Night?
1615. Work for Cutlers, 9. I think that Powder is a vile bragger, he doth nothing but cracke.
1712. Steele, Spect., No. 474, ¶ 1. To be obliged to receive and return Visits … is a vile Loss of Time.
1798. Ferriar, Illustr. of Sterne, ii. 54. The brightest wit is confounded with the vilest absurdity.
7. Comb., as vile-born, -hearted, -natured, etc.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VII., 7. Such a dongehyll knaue and vyle borne villeyne.
1591. Spenser, M. Hubberd, 986. Be therefore counselled herein by me, And shake off this vile harted cowardree.
1607. Tourneur, Rev. Trag., I. i. I wonder how ill-featur’d, vile-proportion’d That one should be [etc.].
1660. Jer. Taylor, Ductor, I. v. rule 8 § 6. The necessities of women married to … morose vile-natur’d husbands.
1888. Doughty, Arabia Deserta, II. 30. The Hâyil princes … are perhaps mostly like vile-spirited in their youth.
B. adv. = VILELY adv. Now only in combs.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 16461. Iudas stode … for to be-hald and se Hu vile þat þai wit him delt.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 2145. Ofte sith hit is sene … That a victor of a victe is vile ouercomyn.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., II. x. 18. The noble daughter of Corineus Would not endure to be so vile disdaind.
1595. Shaks., John, II. i. 586. A most base and vile-concluded peace.
1602. Marston, Antonio’s Rev., IV. v. No, no song; will be vile out of tune.
a. 1734. North, Lives, Guilford (1890), I. 288. Roe was a close servant of Monmouth’s: which comes vile near siding against his master and benefactor the Duke of York.
1905. Westm. Gaz., 16 Feb., 1/3. The vile-smelling tramp on which we had taken passage.
† C. sb. A base or despicable person. Obs.
c. 1400. Laud Troy Bk., 818. Sche wolde be more certayn That he schulde here no-wayes be-gile Ne holde here afftir for no vile.
c. 1400. Song of Roland, 76. They synnyd so sore in þat ylk while that many men wept and cursid þat vile.
1530. Palsgr., 285/1. Vyle, a noughty person, loricart.
