DEFAME

defame, slander, smirch, asperse, denigrate, calumniate, smear, sully, besmirch

(verb) charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone; “The journalists have defamed me!”; “The article in the paper sullied my reputation”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

defame (third-person singular simple present defames, present participle defaming, simple past and past participle defamed)

To disgrace; to bring into disrepute. [from 4th c.]

(now, chiefly, historical) To charge; to accuse (someone) of an offence. [from 14th c.]

To harm or diminish the reputation of; to disparage. [from 4th c.]

Synonyms

• See also defame

Noun

defame (countable and uncountable, plural defames)

(now, rare, archaic) Disgrace, dishonour. [from 14th c.]

(now, rare or nonstandard) Defamation; slander, libel. [from 15th c.]

Source: Wiktionary


De*fame", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Defamed; p. pr. & vb. n. Defaming.] Etym: [OE. defamen, diffamen, from F. diffamer, or OF. perh. defamer, fr. L. diffamare (cf. defamatus infamous); dis- (in this word confused with de) + fama a report. See Fame.]

1. To harm or destroy the good fame or reputation of; to disgrace; especially, to speak evil of maliciously; to dishonor by slanderous reports; to calumniate; to asperse.

2. To render infamous; to bring into disrepute. My guilt thy growing virtues did defame; My blackness blotted thy unblemish'd name. Dryden.

3. To charge; to accuse. [R.] Rebecca is . . . defamed of sorcery practiced on the person of a noble knight. Sir W. Scott.

Syn.

– To asperse; slander; calumniate; vilify. See Asperse.

De*fame", n.

Definition: Dishonor. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

23 January 2025

LEFT

(adjective) being or located on or directed toward the side of the body to the west when facing north; “my left hand”; “left center field”; “the left bank of a river is bank on your left side when you are facing downstream”


coffee icon

Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, the most massive cup of coffee contained 22,739.14 liters and was created by Alcaldía Municipal de Chinchiná (Colombia) at Parque de Bolívar, Chinchiná, Caldas, Colombia, on 15 June 2019. Fifty people worked for more than a month to build this giant cup. The drink prepared was Arabic coffee.

coffee icon