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
  • Third, Whyte and others dismiss our conclusion because many of the studies examining AI in medicine are simulations.
    — Abe Baker-Butler, STAT, 9 Sep. 2026
  • If the case is not settled, dismissed or dropped before the trial date, it would be heard during the 2028 presidential primary elections.
    — Violet Jira, Washington Post, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of dismiss
Verb
  • That dynamic undoubtedly minimizes the adjustment associated with staff upheaval.
    — Mitch Sherman, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Mazama Energy’s demonstrated superhot rock platform optimizes well construction, drilling, and stimulation to boost power capacity while minimizing water use, land footprint, and well counts.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of minimize
Verb
  • One route might be a deal with the left-wing populist BSW party, which on Monday criticized the firewall and which shares some of the AfD’s criticism of Germany’s policies on immigration and Ukraine.
    — Sophie Tanno, CNN Money, 7 Sep. 2026
  • The team was criticized in Iran and branded as traitors in the media there for remaining silent when the Iranian national anthem was played ahead of their opening loss against South Korea on March 2.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of criticize
Verb
  • Foreign central banks and other institutions looking for a safe place to park their capital have diminished roles in the Treasury market and have increasingly turned to alternative havens like gold.
    — Jason Ma, Fortune, 6 Sep. 2026
  • These stabs at earnestness do nothing to diminish the feeling of the concert film being little more than a cash grab.
    — Elena Lazic, Variety, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of diminish
Verb
  • Never mind that she will be disparaged if her lips remain plain or her lashes lack the necessary coat of mascara, that caterpillar thickness.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 31 Aug. 2026
  • His disparaging remarks about Muslims, transgender people and others drew outrage from many who argued the racist and hateful language was an attempt to stoke tensions on campus and should not be platformed by colleges and universities.
    — Eduardo Cuevas, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of disparage
Verb
  • Newsom’s film speaks directly to harm inflicted on young women who are routinely denigrated on social media and who face constant scrutiny of their appearance and comportment through online platforms.
    — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Some of the reason for this is rooted in a foreign influence campaign designed to denigrate America’s artificial intelligence dominance so that China, in particular, can dominate the technology and jobs of the future.
    — Letters to the Editor, Washington Post, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of denigrate
Verb
  • The elastic insult is meant to belittle the target as inauthentic, attention-hungry, unserious, and unmanly.
    — Erik Forrest Jackson, The Atlantic, 22 Aug. 2026
  • Even the teammate who bestowed a belittling nickname upon him can’t wrap his head around Messick’s first year in the majors.
    — Zack Meisel, New York Times, 20 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 11 Sep. 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 patina

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

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

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
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
funny guinea pig in glasses reading a book
Challenging Words You Should Know Vol 2 Words to the wise
See All