character assassination
nounDefinition of character assassination
: the slandering of a person usually with the intention of destroying public confidence in that person
Examples of character assassination in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Is that what Hollywood called lewd and obscene character assassination? — Fox News, "Dad of Parkland victim reacts to release of shooter's videos," 1 June 2018 Feden said the defense strategy to attack the credibility of Constand and others amounted to character assassination. — Eric Levenson, CNN, "Bill Cosby prosecutor 'filled with awe' after his guilty verdict," 28 Apr. 2018 This was a character assassination that, sure, raised the stakes, but at what cost? — Christopher Rosa, Glamour, "10 Things About the Sex and the City Movie That Are Ridiculous—Even By SATC Standards," 30 May 2018 Richter told the Melbourne Magistrates' Court that Milligan had used 'character assassination' in her book, associating Pell's name with other priests who had been accused of abuse and accepting some allegations made by some accusers at face value. — Jacob Carpenter, Houston Chronicle, "Charter school founders, facing restitution in embezzlement case, drop price on mansion by $1M," 11 Apr. 2018 Woodring didn’t elaborate on his claims about the women, which their lawyer called an unfair character assassination. — Philly.com, "Onetime Pa. House employee claims he was fired for sticking up for embattled state rep," 2 May 2018 That’s not to say real couples don’t go through tumult, but the character assassination of Jim Halpert in the pursuit of high-stakes drama caused a beloved show to end on a sour note. — Joanna Robinson, HWD, "What Michael Schur Gets Right About Love That Everyone Else Gets Wrong," 20 May 2018 These days, there are consequences for literal political assassinations and even for character assassination based on lies. — Brenna Williams, CNN, "#TBT: Trump is right to be concerned with loyalty. Just ask Caesar.," 15 Mar. 2018 From here, the film progresses with your typical sci-fi/horror fare with jump scares and secondary character assassinations aplenty. — Darren Orf, Popular Mechanics, "'Annihilation' Is a Sci-Fi Slog That's Worth the Wait," 25 Feb. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'character assassination.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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