Synonyms for libel
- verb
- noun
All synonyms
Verb
1. Slander — to defame (someone), especially in a manner that meets the legal definition of libel
calumny, smear, lampoon, back-bite, besmirch, discredit, disgrace, stain, vilify, malign, wrong, blacken, disparage, denigrate, revile, blot, traduce, calumniate, depreciate, blur, asperse, pasquinade
Noun
Definitions
- v. 1
To defame (someone), especially in a manner that meets the legal definition of libel.
He libelled her when he published that.
- n. 1
A written or pictorial false statement which unjustly seeks to damage someone's reputation.
Related words
- Word family
- libelous libeler
- Phrases
- blood libel
- Is a kind of
- defamation defame
Choose the right word
To slander a person is to utter a false and injurious report concerning him; to defame is specifically and directly to attack one's reputation; to defame by spoken words is to slander, by written words, to libel.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- smear Will I be tested for chlamydia during my smear test?
- besmirch That news will besmirch his reputation for honesty.
- calumny There's something even worse than calumny, it's truth.
By length
- 4 letters
- blur1, blot1
- 5 letters
- wrong1, stain1, smear1
- 6 letters
- malign2, vilify3, revile2
- 7 letters
- lampoon2, blacken2, calumny3, obloquy3, traduce, asperse
- 8 letters
- disgrace2, besmirch
- 9 letters
- discredit3, disparage3, denigrate3, aspersion3
- 10 letters
- defamation4, depreciate4, backbiting3, detraction, calumniate, pasquinade
- 11 letters
- traducement
- 12 letters
- vilification5
- 13 letters
- disparagement
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (malign2 = 2 syllables).