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
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The owners who were arrested were charged with felonies; however, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg later dismissed the case due to conflicts of interest.—
Marley Malenfant,
Austin American Statesman,
20 Mar. 2026
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As part of the plea agreement, two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child — another third-degree felony — as well as a class-A misdemeanor charge of child abuse and a class-B misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief were dismissed.—
Tony Maglio,
HollywoodReporter,
19 Mar. 2026
Verb
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How can the footprint of the building and a three-level parking structure to house about 300 cars be minimized?—
Erika I. Ritchie,
Oc Register,
22 Mar. 2026
-
This will help bolster TSA efforts to keep our skies safe and minimize air travel disruptions.—
Tara Lynch,
CBS News,
22 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Rogers, reportedly to the shock of those in attendance, backed up Microsoft by criticizing the work of the auditors.—
Robert Schmad,
The Washington Examiner,
23 Mar. 2026
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Lee criticized the failure of Bondi's DOJ to take new action against Epstein associates, even as the United Kingdom has made arrests based on information in the latest releases of files.—
Aysha Bagchi,
USA Today,
23 Mar. 2026
Verb
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But Waddle’s production diminished the past three years because of myriad factors, including Tagovailoa’s regression, some drops by Waddle and Hill commanding more targets before his September injury last year.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
17 Mar. 2026
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Israel’s indie film industry is diminished, squeezed between endless conflict, global boycotts over Gaza and defunding threats from the country’s right-wing government, and hopes are slim for a presence in Cannes this year.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
17 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Bruce Pearl — the former Auburn coach and father of Steven Pearl, the current coach — recently made comments disparaging the resume of Miami (Ohio), another team on the bubble, presumably to prop up Auburn’s chances.—
Tim Rohan,
NBC news,
16 Mar. 2026
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The documents, sent anonymously, show officers sending and forwarding inappropriate and offensive content, including nude images and disparaging jokes and comments about women, Muslims and Black people, between 2010 and 2012.—
Aaron Leibowitz,
Miami Herald,
14 Mar. 2026
Verb
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But unlike men who exploited humoral theory and biblical myths to denigrate women’s bodies and minds, Hildegard valorized the contribution of female difference to nature’s grand scheme.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 Mar. 2026
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At a time when Black American culture is being reviled and denigrated throughout much of public life, this unapologetic expression of joy in outdoor winter activities is an enduring tribute to the resilience of people whose pursuit of happiness will not be denied.—
James Edward Mills,
Outside,
15 Mar. 2026
Verb
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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
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Unlike some of her contemporaries (say, Lauryn Hill), Missy never rejected or belittled explicit markers of femme subjectivity.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
9 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bad-mouth.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bad-mouth. Accessed 24 Mar. 2026.
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