libel
noun
[ ˈlʌɪb(ə)l ]
• a published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation; a written defamation.
• "he was found guilty of a libel on a Liverpool inspector of taxes"
Similar:
defamation,
defamation of character,
character assassination,
calumny,
misrepresentation,
scandalmongering,
aspersions,
denigration,
vilification,
disparagement,
derogation,
insult,
slander,
malicious gossip,
tittle-tattle,
traducement,
lie,
slur,
smear,
untruth,
false insinuation,
false report,
smear campaign,
slight,
innuendo,
rumour,
mud-slinging,
bad-mouthing,
contumely,
• (in admiralty and ecclesiastical law) a plaintiff's written declaration.
libel
verb
• defame (someone) by publishing a libel.
• "the jury found that he was libelled by a newspaper"
Similar:
defame,
malign,
slander,
give someone a bad name,
blacken someone's name,
sully someone's reputation,
speak ill/evil of,
write false reports about,
traduce,
smear,
cast aspersions on,
fling mud at,
besmirch,
tarnish,
taint,
do a hatchet job on,
tell lies about,
spread tales about,
spread scandal about,
stain,
vilify,
calumniate,
denigrate,
disparage,
run down,
derogate,
stigmatize,
discredit,
slight,
slur,
asperse,
• (in admiralty and ecclesiastical law) bring a suit against.
• "if a ship does you any injury you libel the ship"
Origin:
Middle English (in the general sense ‘a document, a written statement’): via Old French from Latin libellus, diminutive of liber ‘book’.
