as in to dismiss
to express scornfully one's low opinion of
she promptly bad-mouthed that awful movie to everyone she knew
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Recent Examples of bad-mouth
At one point, Brown stepped away from the set, and co-stars Antoni Porowski, Tan France and Jonathan van Ness began bad-mouthing him behind his back, while his mom heard the whole conversation, according to TMZ.
—
Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 21 Jan. 2026
Most of the people who were bad-mouthing Titanic had not seen so much as a minute of film.
—Stacy Lambe, PEOPLE, 22 Oct. 2025
This is not some glossy revisionist history of a person’s life; the man had a beautiful soul who didn’t have it in him to bad-mouth a cockroach.
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 Sep. 2025
Ranting on LinkedIn and bad-mouthing your ex-employer or naming and shaming your last negative recruitment experience won’t help you either.
—Rachel Wells, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
This was a departure from Mourinho and Conte, who both moaned about investment, attacked the club culture, exited unceremoniously, and bad-mouthed them afterward.
—Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes, 23 Mar. 2025
Leading up to the premiere of It Ends With Us last year, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni reached an uneasy truce in which it was agreed that neither side would bad-mouth the other to the press.
—Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Mar. 2025
The neighbor's negative response—bad-mouthing OP to others—reflects an entitlement mindset, Sprowl noted.
—Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 24 Jan. 2025
The vulnerable Mayfair he’s sent to woo is new character Moira, who’s been getting on everybody’s nerves by bad-mouthing Lasher for second-degree murdering her sister Tessa.
—Kathleen Walsh, Vulture, 5 Jan. 2025
Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 21 Jan. 2026
Most of the people who were bad-mouthing Titanic had not seen so much as a minute of film.
—Stacy Lambe, PEOPLE, 22 Oct. 2025
This is not some glossy revisionist history of a person’s life; the man had a beautiful soul who didn’t have it in him to bad-mouth a cockroach.
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 Sep. 2025
Ranting on LinkedIn and bad-mouthing your ex-employer or naming and shaming your last negative recruitment experience won’t help you either.
—Rachel Wells, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
This was a departure from Mourinho and Conte, who both moaned about investment, attacked the club culture, exited unceremoniously, and bad-mouthed them afterward.
—Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes, 23 Mar. 2025
Leading up to the premiere of It Ends With Us last year, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni reached an uneasy truce in which it was agreed that neither side would bad-mouth the other to the press.
—Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Mar. 2025
The neighbor's negative response—bad-mouthing OP to others—reflects an entitlement mindset, Sprowl noted.
—Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 24 Jan. 2025
The vulnerable Mayfair he’s sent to woo is new character Moira, who’s been getting on everybody’s nerves by bad-mouthing Lasher for second-degree murdering her sister Tessa.
—Kathleen Walsh, Vulture, 5 Jan. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bad-mouth
Verb
-
Federal Court Justice James Stellios ruled in dismissing the appeal that no jurisdiction error was made in 2024 by then Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus in ordering Duggan's extradition.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
16 Apr. 2026
-
Maasdorp called for a pivot toward investment, capital mobilization, and regional integration, saying BII was looking to forge partnerships that de-risk investment in markets long dismissed as too volatile.—
Adrian Elimian,
semafor.com,
16 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Effective vole control includes keeping grass mowed, minimizing mulch, using traps, and protecting young trees with hardware cloth tubes.—
Arricca Elin SanSone,
Southern Living,
19 Apr. 2026
-
For as long as medicine has been practiced, women’s health concerns have been minimized, misdiagnosed or dismissed.—
Dr. Sanjay Gupta,
CNN Money,
19 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Wolves coach Chris Finch criticized his team’s lack of composure.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
19 Apr. 2026
-
One of the easier things to do is criticize without offering solutions.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
19 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Perpetuating ageism diminishes all of us.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
21 Apr. 2026
-
The change reflects assessment that downside risks from a severe and prolonged tariff shock have diminished after US duties on Thai exports were reduced to levels broadly in line with regional peers, Moody’s said in a statement Tuesday.—
Bloomberg,
Bloomberg,
21 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Over the past few decades, many American politicians and Christian clergy have disparaged Islam and its believers.—
Anna Piela,
The Conversation,
13 Apr. 2026
-
Trump has disparaged the United States’ NATO allies for their reluctance to join the war.—
Jill Lawless,
Los Angeles Times,
12 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Trump tapped into that sentiment again in his Telegraph interview, denigrating the Royal Navy as not up to the task.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
1 Apr. 2026
-
The epitome of narcissism, demeaning and denigrating others upon their deaths (John McCain, Rob Reiner) who’ve displeased him is nothing new, but the Mueller post sinks to a new low.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Dear Coop Community, At a recent general meeting, a member was allowed to belittle and vilify fellow members who signed the petition opposing the Israeli government’s escalating mistreatment of the Palestinian people.—
Christine Smallwood,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Mar. 2026
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The ruthlessness of the producers cutting folk off mid-speech or retracting the microphone and upping the music volume was belittling to those on stage.—
Baz Bamigboye,
Deadline,
16 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bad-mouth.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bad-mouth. Accessed 23 Apr. 2026.
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