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bad-mouth

verb

ˈbad-ˌmau̇th How to pronounce bad-mouth (audio)
Definition of bad-mouthnext
as in to dismiss
to express scornfully one's low opinion of she promptly bad-mouthed that awful movie to everyone she knew

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of bad-mouth 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 See All Example Sentences for bad-mouth
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bad-mouth
  1. dismiss
  2. minimize
  3. criticize
  4. diminish
  5. disparage
  6. denigrate
  7. belittle
Verb
  • In other developments, Ukraine's parliament voted to dismiss Ruslan Kravchenko from the post of prosecutor general Tuesday.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Critics dismissed the threat as a ploy to manufacture leverage in deal discussions.
    — Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of dismiss
Verb
  • Dyson addresses that issue with an anti-gravity tank and a diaphragm pump designed to minimize air pockets.
    — Maryna Holovnova, New Atlas, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Promote Business Continuity By Maximizing Uptime Many businesses focus on minimizing downtime, reducing the amount of time systems or services are unavailable.
    — Rick Elliott, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of minimize
Verb
  • While the sale has generated considerable interest, Bardot’s widowerBernard d’Ormale has criticized the auction, according to CNN affiliate BFMTV.
    — Jack Guy, CNN Money, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Sneaker company Converse has pulled an ad that was criticized for evoking racist imagery.
    — Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of criticize
Verb
  • Theirs is the paramount love story here, which works well in some ways but less so in others, somehow diminishing the stakes of their respective longing for Edward Ferrars (George MacKay) and Willoughby (Frank Dillane).
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 21 Sep. 2026
  • But people have decided to use their savings and savings is diminishing.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of diminish
Verb
  • These doubters also disparage as unreliable or wishful thinking the oral histories passed down by Hemings’s descendants who have placed Jefferson in their family tree.
    — Andrew Lawler, The Atlantic, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Teesside instead saw itself as half-forgotten by the UK government, then the butt of jokes and disparaging coverage.
    — Michael Walker, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of disparage
Verb
  • Today, some of Nashville’s biggest stars have aligned themselves with (or shrewdly eschewed criticism of) a political movement that has denigrated countless demographic groups, including Punjabi immigrants.
    — Harmeet Kaur, CNN Money, 19 Sep. 2026
  • Trump’s preference for immediate gratification explains many of his decisions, including defunding scientific and medical research, accelerating fossil-fuel emissions, and denigrating American soft power globally.
    — Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of denigrate
Verb
  • Played by a perpetually blank Ella Beatty, the daughter of Warren Beatty and Annette Bening, Lizzie is the belittled and abused daughter of a disinterested father, Andrew (Charlie Hunnam), and hateful step-mother, Abby (Rebecca Hall).
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 18 Sep. 2026
  • The elastic insult is meant to belittle the target as inauthentic, attention-hungry, unserious, and unmanly.
    — Erik Forrest Jackson, The Atlantic, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of belittle

Browse Nearby Words

badly
bad-mouth
bad-mouthed
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Bad-mouth.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bad-mouth. Accessed 23 Sep. 2026.

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