Synonyms for defamatory
- adjective
Most common
All synonyms
Adjective
1. Libelous
libelous US, libellous UK, slanderous, injurious, scandalous, scurrilous, abusive, vituperative, calumnious, calumniatory, denigratory, denigrative, contumelious formal dated
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
Damaging to someone's reputation, especially if untrue.
sue for defamatory comments
Example sentences
- scandalous Did you read this journalist's scandalous article?
- injurious The argument that smoking is injurious has become accepted.
- slanderous I never want to hear that slanderous shit again!
- disparaging She made many disparaging comments on Twitter.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| defamatory | steady | |
| scandalous | rising | |
| injurious | falling | |
| slanderous | falling | |
| scurrilous | steady | |
| disparaging | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 7 letters
- abusive3
- 8 letters
- libelous3
- 9 letters
- injurious4, libellous
- 10 letters
- scandalous3, slanderous3, scurrilous3, calumnious
- 11 letters
- disparaging4, denigratory, denigrative
- 12 letters
- vituperative5, calumniatory, contumelious
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (abusive3 = 3 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- diffamatoire