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
He also bad-mouths my son’s wife.
—
Abigail Van Buren, Boston Herald, 8 June 2026
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
Abigail Van Buren, Boston Herald, 8 June 2026
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bad-mouth
Verb
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The charges of using a computer to commit a crime and interfering with a telecommunications device were dismissed, according to prosecutors.—
DeJanay Booth-Singleton,
CBS News,
11 June 2026
-
In January 2021, Erickson was charged with one misdemeanor count of reckless driving, but the charge was later dismissed, his lawyer Mark Werksman told The New York Times.—
Madison E. Goldberg,
PEOPLE,
11 June 2026
Verb
-
Every group-stage match will involve a border crossing into the US, but, according to a spokesperson for the Iranian Football Federation, players will only enter the US one day before the first match and two days before each of the next two matches to minimize their time in the country.—
Julia Vargas Jones,
CNN Money,
14 June 2026
-
Wear clothing that minimizes skin exposure to ticks when possible.—
Olivia McIntosh,
Martha Stewart,
14 June 2026
Verb
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Iran’s government warned that any division at home over the deal weakens its negotiating position, and those criticizing negotiators are taking aim at a national decision.—
Julia Frankel,
Fortune,
14 June 2026
-
Iran’s government warned that any division at home over the deal weakens its negotiating position, and that those criticizing negotiators are taking aim at a national decision.—
Julia Frankel,
Los Angeles Times,
14 June 2026
Verb
-
When plants are set too close together, air circulation is diminished, which encourages a more humid plant canopy that favors disease.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
16 June 2026
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To bolster his case, DeWine brandished charts and graphs detailing the diminishing number of death sentences meted out by courts and showing the exceedingly long wait times that elapse as legal appeals play out for those on death row.—
Julie Carr Smyth,
Los Angeles Times,
16 June 2026
Verb
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There, Artan was hoisted onto shoulders to the cheers of the crowd, a symbol of national pride in a country often disparaged on the world stage.—
Emmanuel Akinwotu,
NPR,
10 June 2026
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Running in New Hampshire's 1st Congressional District, the younger Shaheen has sought to define herself as her own politician, even disparaging a deal negotiated by her mother to reopen the government during last fall's federal shutdown.—
Joseph Konig,
PEOPLE,
8 June 2026
Verb
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People see all these nicknames denigrating people, devaluing their existence.—
NBC news,
NBC news,
7 Dec. 2025
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Trump has made denigrating comments toward multiple countries in the tournament, and Iran threatened to boycott the draw before switching course a day in advance.—
Evan Webeck,
Mercury News,
6 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Drummond belittles him after a poor performance review, specifically targeting his speech; Milchick displaces that humiliation onto Miss Huang, and then, in a remarkable scene, onto himself.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
20 Aug. 2025
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Giants rookie Abdul Carter belittled the Jets on Sunday while mocking the first lowlight of his NFL career.—
Pat Leonard,
New York Daily News,
18 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bad-mouth.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bad-mouth. Accessed 18 Jun. 2026.
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