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.
The article was full of lies and defamations.
accused the newspaper columnist of defamation of character
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Kari Lake attempted to invoke it in 2023 after she was sued for defamation by former Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, but was unsuccessful.—Taylor Seely, AZCentral.com, 24 Oct. 2025 But multi-year defamation suits on both sides of the Atlantic from his split from ex-wife Amber Heard resulted in a string of headlines that Hollywood found unappetizing, and Depp found himself on the outs with studios.—Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 23 Oct. 2025 The film marks Depp's first project from a major American studio since his controversial defamation trial with his ex-wife Amber Heard.—Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 23 Oct. 2025 As for Depp, this marks one of his biggest roles in some time following his defamation-lawsuit victory in 2022.—Justin Kroll, Deadline, 23 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for defamation
Share