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 judge also dismissed a criminal charge related to possession of a large capacity ammunition magazine, according to Reuters and ABC News.—
Thao Nguyen,
USA Today,
19 June 2026
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On Wednesday, federal prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss all charges in the case, citing new video evidence.—
Todd Feurer,
CBS News,
19 June 2026
Verb
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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
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Wear clothing that minimizes skin exposure to ticks when possible.—
Olivia McIntosh,
Martha Stewart,
14 June 2026
Verb
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Draper contested the claims and denied all wrongdoing and criticized the Commission on Judicial Performance.—
Queenie Wong,
Los Angeles Times,
14 June 2026
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The image quickly spread on social media, where some fans criticized the pose as disrespectful while others defended Wembanyama, who is from France.—
Dan Zaksheske OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
14 June 2026
Verb
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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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When family dinners are interrupted by smartphone dings or kids glued to their tablets, Sada Garibay and other experts noted, some of the benefits of the family dinner can be diminished.—
Elise Haulund,
CNN Money,
16 June 2026
Verb
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By the way they’re subtly disparaged for not being financially irresponsible to declare their fanaticism.—
Marcus Thompson II,
New York Times,
13 June 2026
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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
Verb
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None of this is said to denigrate Slot, Liverpool’s decision-makers or the use of data in football recruitment.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
31 May 2026
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As a result, the neo-Brandeisian network played an important role in promoting Lynn’s allies and denigrating competing candidates.—
Jonathan Chait,
The Atlantic,
26 May 2026
Verb
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Many builders see critics or writers such as myself as takers, drafting off of their hard work and effort only to belittle it.—
Charlie Warzel,
The Atlantic,
10 June 2026
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People are constantly trying to belittle you.—
Paul Tenorio,
New York Times,
3 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bad-mouth.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bad-mouth. Accessed 21 Jun. 2026.
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