vile

Vile is an English adjective used to describe something that is extremely unpleasant to the senses or morally repugnant. It can apply to smells, weather, substances, or acts that provoke strong disgust or condemnation. The term often conveys a sense of moral depravity or contempt, not merely inconvenience or discomfort.

Originating in the Latin vilis meaning cheap, common, or worthless, the word entered English via Old French vile and Middle English. The sense broadened over time from cheapness to moral emptiness, yielding the modern usage.

Vile is a strong word and can be used for emphasis; milder synonyms include nasty, unpleasant, or disagreeable. Collocations include phrases such as “vile stench,” “vile lie,” “vile acts,” and “vile weather.” The comparative and superlative forms are “viler” and “vilest”; some style guides also allow “more vile” and “most vile.” For adverbial use, “vilely” exists but is rare and often awkward; writers typically recast as “in a vile manner” or choose a different adverb.

It often connotes moral condemnation, and is more common in literary, journalistic, or polemical contexts than in clinical or neutral description. It is not interchangeable with milder terms when emphasis on ethics is intended.

Related terms include odious, abhorrent, despicable, repugnant, filthy, and gross. See usage notes on moral language for further nuance.