Vrijediti

Vrijediti is a verb used in several South Slavic languages, including Croatian, Bosnian, Serbian, and Montenegrin. Its core sense is to insult, offend, or demean someone by denying their worth or by expressing contempt for them. In everyday speech it carries a strongly negative connotation and is generally considered rude or inappropriate in polite conversation. The phrase is often encountered as vrijеditi nekoga or sramotno vrijeđati nekoga, depending on regional spelling and pronunciation.

The word is etymologically linked to the concept of value or worth, common to all languages in the area. In most neutral or formal contexts, however, speakers opt for other verbs such as cijeniti or poštovati to express appreciation, respect, or value, whereas vrijediti focuses on degrading or belittling. Because of this nuance, vrijедiti is typically used to describe hostile or disparaging remarks rather than ordinary critique or opinion.

Usage notes and variants: regional spelling may yield forms such as vrijeđati (with the hard d) or vrijеđati in different orthographic conventions. The exact conjugation and accentuation depend on the language standard in question. Although vrijиditi can sometimes appear in a broader sense of devaluing something, this reading is less common and more formal, and is usually conveyed with other vocabulary in contemporary usage.

See also: insult in South Slavic languages, belittling, demeaning language, value and worth in Slavic linguistics.