How to Use pillory in a Sentence
pillory
verb-
He's been pilloried as a traitor each night on Fox News.
—Griff Witte, Washington Post, 17 Feb. 2020
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The scholarly work that D'Souza (and Woodward) pilloried in the early 90's has stood the test of time.
—Zack Beauchamp, Vox, 13 Aug. 2018
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Whatever her plan had been, Madonna was pilloried in the press and by some of the other artists in the hall.
—Mary Gabriel, Rolling Stone, 27 Sep. 2023
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Still, at the outset of the race, some Democrats viewed Youngkin as a candidate who would be easy to pillory.
—Dan Merica and Eric Bradner, CNN, 30 Oct. 2021
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By contrast, all four of the state’s U.S. House Democrats have pilloried the practice in recent days.
—Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, azcentral, 18 June 2018
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The study, posted as a preprint on April 17, has been pilloried non-stop.
—David H. Freedman, Wired, 1 May 2020
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As word of the pardons has spread, Bevin has been pilloried on social media.
—Joseph Gerth, The Courier-Journal, 13 Dec. 2019
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Muhammad Ali was the greatest boxer in the world, and he was still pilloried by the public, stripped of his title, and exiled.
—Jonathan Eig, Slate Magazine, 26 Sep. 2017
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The eight clergy have been pilloried in history for their stance.
—Greg Garrison, AL.com, 16 Apr. 2018
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Democrats seem stunned when their GOP opponents pillory them with lies, rage and ad hominem attacks.
—Robert B. Reich, Star Tribune, 17 Aug. 2020
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As more retailers have followed suit, trend pieces have been quick to dub card-only payment the next big thing and to pillory cash as dead.
—Polly Mosendz, Bloomberg.com, 8 May 2017
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The praise by Seehofer, who pilloried Merkel throughout the country’s refugee crisis for not doing enough to stem the flow of migrants, marked a turnaround.
—Patrick Donahue, Bloomberg.com, 28 May 2017
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That’s not surprising given the way that Sean Spicer, the current occupant of the position, has been pilloried by the press and late-night comics.
—Chris Lu, Time, 26 June 2017
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Fallon, who did not ask one substantive question of his guest, was pilloried for the interview at the time.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 26 June 2018
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Meanwhile women are pilloried for spending the same amount on a handbag.
—Jennifer Wright, Harper's BAZAAR, 8 Feb. 2018
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But Comey is being pilloried on the right for not having much of a legal case against President Trump, and for being a leaker to boot.
—Howard Kurtz, Fox News, 12 June 2017
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Brexit that would keep Britain in the single market, like Norway, is pilloried as no Brexit at all.
—The Economist, 4 July 2019
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The response, which prompted comparisons to (and a very funny video by) 30 Rock's Kenneth the Page was pilloried by comics and critics alike.
—Newsweek, 14 Mar. 2018
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His lawyers have offered relatively little in the way of riposte—and have been pilloried for it.
—WIRED, 20 Oct. 2023
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George got pilloried for that move, but at least Indiana was able to get something in return (as meager as that haul from the Thunder turned out to be).
—Ira Winderman, Sun-Sentinel.com, 5 July 2017
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Michelle Obama was both praised and pilloried for her sensible shoes.
—Bonnie Wertheim, New York Times, 16 Dec. 2017
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He was relentlessly pilloried, mocked, and distorted in the press for it.
—Rich Lowry, National Review, 19 Apr. 2020
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The move to help its employees go to college looks good for a company that has been pilloried over the years for its low wages, lack of room for career growth, and stingy benefits.
—Adam Harris, The Atlantic, 30 May 2018
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By the time Trump reversed his policy Wednesday, Nielsen had been both yelled at and praised by Trump and pilloried for repeating his falsehoods.
—Washington Post, 21 June 2018
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Sometimes, people could be beaten to death or severely hurt by the rocks and other objects thrown at them while they were pilloried.
—Kat Eschner, Smithsonian, 31 July 2017
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Look at WeWork, which gets pilloried by much of the press for being overvalued and overhyped (even while investors bet millions on its growth).
—Patrick Sisson, Curbed, 29 May 2018
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But why should Trump be pilloried for keeping a campaign promise, just because the former head of Goldman Sachs was opposed?
—Howard Kurtz, Fox News, 8 Mar. 2018
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The decision has been pilloried by the cannabis industry, which argued that Sessions is trying to stop the momentum of a growing business and restart the war on drugs.
—Author: Katie Zezima, Anchorage Daily News, 11 Jan. 2018
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But companies that offer shallow, disingenuous commitments to societal betterment can expect to be pilloried by both the right and the left—along with their consumers, employees, and the public at large.
—Ruth Umoh, Fortune, 4 Oct. 2023
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The gourmet products on sale, which today include (per King) a $10 jar of meatballs for dogs, have been pilloried for embodying a quintessentially Californian foodie snobbishness.
—Benjamin Schneider, Los Angeles Times, 13 Nov. 2023
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pillory.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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