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

Relevance

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
  • Zhykovych’s lawyer, Anatoliy Ivanov, dismissed the allegations, telling CNN that Reut was the organizer and killer and was seeking to shift the blame onto Zhykovych.
    — Ivana Kottasová, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Chauvin is looking to have his conviction vacated and the charges dismissed.
    — Riley Moser, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of dismiss
Verb
  • The buffers that have minimized the disruption so far will hold for only so long and must be reinforced if the world is to endure future shocks.
    — Jason Bordoff, Foreign Affairs, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Some formulas do even more than volumize—doubling as heat protectants or incorporating ingredients designed to help minimize damage.
    — Iman Balagam, Vogue, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of minimize
Verb
  • Wasserman Schultz was sharply criticized by Black community leaders and the other four candidates, who are all African American, for running in this district.
    — Caroline Linton, CBS News, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Ba's novels explored women caught between traditional upbringing and modern aspirations, criticizing polygamy, widespread in the country, and patriarchy.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of criticize
Verb
  • The term refers to when tobacco companies in the 1990s were forced to pay billions of dollars for misleading the public about the safety and potential harms of their products, and subsequently saw their power and influence dramatically diminished.
    — Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 18 Aug. 2026
  • The filter significantly diminishes elements commonly found in water that can be damaging, like chlorine, hydrogen sulfide, heavy metals, and more.
    — Caroline Hughes, Travel + Leisure, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of diminish
Verb
  • Other negative ads suggested El-Sayed had made disparaging comments about Michelle Obama.
    — Michael Traugott, The Conversation, 12 Aug. 2026
  • But if a broadcaster publicly questions or disparages the viability of candidates, especially the front-runner, as Kevin Collins did on social media during BC’s search process, employers keep those receipts and consequences should be no surprise.
    — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of disparage
Verb
  • Glass also noted that the district policy requires that instruction about religion be academic rather than devotional, and that no faith may be promoted or denigrated.
    — Noe Padilla, USA Today, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Arday became the focus of hundreds of articles doubting his credibility and denigrating his character in the British and international media.
    — Charlotte Reck, CNN Money, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of denigrate
Verb
  • His work has often been criticized for belittling women and invading the privacy of others.
    — Matt Lavietes, NBC news, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Lestat is treated as unworthy of Akasha’s (Sheila Atim) blood and his choice to turn Louis is belittled by the table because Louis was a pimp.
    — Sabrina Reed, Forbes.com, 20 July 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 20 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of divulge

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

How to Pronounce the Trickiest Menu Items

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of a green cube out of place in a lineup of red spheres
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Vol. 2 Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.
See All