Illustration of pillory
- pillory 1
plural pillories
1
: a device formerly used for publicly punishing offenders consisting of a wooden frame with holes in which the head and hands can be locked
2
: a means for exposing one to public scorn or ridicule
pilloried; pillorying
1
: to set in a pillory as punishment
2
: to expose to public contempt, ridicule, or scorn
Did you know?
In days gone by, criminals who got caught might well have found themselves in the stocks (which held the feet or both feet and hands) or a pillory. Both of those forms of punishment—and the words that name them—have been around since the Middle Ages. We latched onto pillory from the Anglo-French pilori, which has the same meaning as our English term but the exact origins of which are uncertain. For centuries, pillory referred only to the wooden frame used to hold a ne'er-do-well, but by the early 1600s, folks had turned the word into a verb for the act of putting someone in a pillory. Within a century, they had further expanded the verb to cover any process that led to as much public humiliation as being pilloried.
Examples of pillory in a Sentence
Verb
The press pilloried the judge for her decision.
Recent Examples on the Web
Richard E. Vatz, Baltimore Sun, 9 Jan. 2024
The pillory for hosts restarting production in defiance of their writers’ picket lines is getting crowded.
—James Poniewozik, New York Times, 18 Sep. 2023
See all Example Sentences for pillory 
Noun
Andy Borowitz, The New York Times best-selling author whose column was recently cut from The New Yorker amid layoffs, spares liberals and progressives but pillories conservatives.
—Richard E. Vatz, Baltimore Sun, 9 Jan. 2024
The pillory for hosts restarting production in defiance of their writers’ picket lines is getting crowded.
—James Poniewozik, New York Times, 18 Sep. 2023
See all Example Sentences for pillory
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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Cite this Entry
“Pillory.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pillory. Accessed 29 May. 2024.
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