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Harming someone's reputation in speech with falsehoods is known as slander, and doing the same thing in writing is known as libel (which sometimes includes speech as well). Any ordinary citizen who can claim to have suffered harm as a result of such defamation may sue. So why aren't politicians suing all the time? Because an exception is made for "public persons" (a category that includes most other celebrities as well), who must also prove that any such statement was made with "reckless disregard for the truth". And although, even by that standard, public persons are defamed all the time, most of them have decided that it's better to just grin and bear it.
Examples of defamation in a Sentence
Brian Stelter, CNN Money, 1 Apr. 2025
In August 2023, Schaffer sued the organization and Smith, individually, claiming he was owed tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid legal fees and accusing the new board of defamation.
—Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 31 Mar. 2025
Baldoni denies the allegations and has responded with a $400M countersuit, accusing Lively of defamation.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 31 Mar. 2025
In response, Baldoni, 41, filed a $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively, Reynolds, their publicist Leslie Sloane and Sloane's PR firm Vision PR Inc., as well as a lawsuit against The New York Times regarding the outlet's reporting on Lively's allegations.
—Nicholas Rice, People.com, 31 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for defamation
Cite this Entry
“Defamation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/defamation. Accessed 14 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
defamation
noun
W. L. Prosser and W. P. Keeton
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