pile-on

[ pahyl-on, ‐-awn ]

noun

1. the action of followers who join a hostile group in harshly criticizing or judging a less dominant group or individual, sometimes gloating over that group’s or person's defeat or diminished standing (often used attributively): Social media encourages a kind of pile-on mentality that is very unforgiving of mistakes and flaws.

   Long after the merciless baiting ceased to be funny, her critics continued to join the pile-on.

   Social media encourages a kind of pile-on mentality that is very unforgiving of mistakes and flaws.

Word History and Origins

Origin of pile-on¹

Noun use of verb phrase pile on

Example Sentences

If it sounds like a pile-on of the tourists, it’s not the intention, because there were positives too.

From BBC

She canceled her summer tour and her fourth marriage ended in divorce, not to mention the internet pile-on on Bennifer 2.0 that put it out there for public consumption.

From Los Angeles Times

Julia Lopez, the shadow culture minister who is backing Badenoch in the leadership race, described the row as a "confected maternity pile-on".

From BBC

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance — the same guy who suggested Biles was “showing weakness” when she withdrew from competition in Tokyo — joined the Khelif pile-on with a tweet suggesting that somehow Vice President Kamala Harris was responsible for “a grown man pummeling a woman in a boxing match.”

From Los Angeles Times

Gov. Newsom calls the attention pile-on ‘unfair.’

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• exaggerate
• overestimate
• overplay
• overrate
• overreach
• overstate
• overuse
• overvalue