as in defamation
the making of false statements that damage another's reputation
public maligning of a person can actually be grounds for a lawsuit
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in insulting
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in smearing
to make untrue and harmful statements about
a candidate who believes that it is possible to win an election without maligning anyone
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for maligning
Noun
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Newsmax was motivated to raise money through an IPO partly due to the defamation lawsuits against the channel stemming from the 2020 election.—
Brian Stelter,
CNN Money,
1 Apr. 2025 -
Baldoni denies the allegations and has responded with a $400M countersuit, accusing Lively of defamation.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
31 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Formula One's governing body, the FIA, has categorized certain actions and behaviors as 'misconduct,' which include insulting or inappropriate language and gestures.—
Josh Hammer,
Newsweek,
20 Mar. 2025
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Meghan’s infamous mock curtsy, which was seen as insulting… was [a] low point.—
Stephanie Nolasco,
Fox News,
17 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Baldoni has since sued The Times for libel, and the newspaper stood by its coverage.—
Benjamin VanHoose,
People.com,
31 Mar. 2025
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On New Year’s Eve, Baldoni and nine other plaintiffs, including his crisis publicist Melissa Nathan, sued the New York Times for $250 million for libel over their initial story about Lively’s allegations.—
Zack Sharf,
Variety,
26 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The 2023 Economic Report Of The President published in March of 2023 was relatively disparaging of cryptoassets and DLTs.—
Lawrence Wintermeyer,
Forbes,
5 Dec. 2024
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Prior to appearing on Cunningham's show on Monday, Huggins made more disparaging remarks about Xavier.—
Emily DeLetter,
The Enquirer,
10 May 2023
Adjective
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Incentives for employees to resign or retire could lead to a loss of experienced staff, further degrading service quality.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
Newsweek,
4 Mar. 2025
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Drill sergeants now minimize their use of profanity, insults and degrading remarks and strive to become support figures for trainees.—
Cybele Mayes-Osterman,
USA TODAY,
25 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Luck and the university fired coach Troy Taylor last week after ESPN reported that he was twice investigated for his demeaning treatment of staffers — particularly women.—
Michael Nowels,
Mercury News,
1 Apr. 2025
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And the system was routinely demeaning and dismissive.—
Sarah Lustbader,
The New Yorker,
9 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Many of the conspiracy theories have prompted FEMA to create a page on its site discrediting rumors and false information about its response to Hurricane Helene.—
Nicole Sganga,
CBS News,
14 Oct. 2024
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Still, the United States didn’t recognize Haiti as a nation until 1862, during the Civil War, when American leadership was looking for any support in discrediting slavery.—
Chadd Scott,
Forbes,
10 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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In Britain, Musk has called for the release of Tommy Robinson, a far-right extremist who was jailed for 18 months in October for repeating a libelous claim about a Syrian refugee schoolboy attacking girls.—
Kim Hjelmgaard,
USA TODAY,
7 Jan. 2025
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Robinson was sentenced late last year to a year and a half in prison due to violating a court order prohibiting him from repeating libelous allegations about a Syrian refugee, and Musk has been calling for his release.—
Tara Suter,
The Hill,
6 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Maligning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/maligning. Accessed 8 Apr. 2025.
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