law
What's Trending Now
More Trending Words
Examples of defamation in a Sentence
The article was full of lies and defamations.
accused the newspaper columnist of defamation of character
Recent Examples of defamation from the Web
-
The case will now return to district court, where Breuder is suing for defamation and breach of contract.
-
Moore filed a counterclaim against Corfman on Tuesday on grounds of defamation and slander.
-
Lies, defamation and breach of confidentiality were among the claims Atrium Health lobbed at a company and its affiliate that supplies anesthesiologists to many of Atrium's Charlotte-area hospitals.
-
Moore’s attorneys had argued that there was no defamation and that Moore had a First Amendment right to defend himself.
-
They were interviewed days after reaching a tentative settlement of $2.5 million with the city of Vallejo, Calif., in a civil lawsuit for defamation and infliction of emotional distress.
-
That a third case involving defamation and harassment would be playing out at the same time is without precedent.
-
Steven Ungerleider filed the suit in federal court in Boston on Friday, claiming defamation and tortious interference.
-
The suit accuses the Met and Gelb of defamation and breach of contract.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'defamation.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
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.
Origin and Etymology of defamation
see defame
NEW! Time Traveler
First Known Use: 14th century
in the meaning defined above
See Words from the same yeardefamation Synonyms
Synonyms
aspersing, blackening, defaming, libel, libeling (or libelling), maligning, slander, smearing, traducing, vilification, vilifying;
Near Antonyms
Related Words
abuse, invective, vituperation;
attack, censure, criticism, denunciation;
belittlement, denigration, disparagement;
hatefulness, malevolence, malice, maliciousness, malignancy, malignity, meanness, nastiness, spite, spitefulness, spleen, venom, viciousness;
Other Legal Terms
DEFAMATION Defined for English Language Learners
-
: the act of saying false things in order to make people have a bad opinion of someone or something : the act of defaming someone or something
Law Dictionary
1
: communication to third parties of false statements about a person that injure the reputation of or deter others from associating with that person — see also libel, slander, New York Times Co. v. Sullivan — compare disparagement, false light, slander of title
2
: a defamatory communication
- every repetition of the defamation is a publication
- —W. L. Prosser and W. P. Keeton
Learn More about defamation
-
See words that rhyme with defamation Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for defamation Spanish Central: Translation of defamation Nglish: Translation of defamation for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of defamation for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about defamation
Seen and Heard
What made you want to look up defamation? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
