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

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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
  • The complaint escalates the department’s battle with the federal judiciary, which has halted administration priorities, dismissed high-profile prosecutions and accused government lawyers in some cases of failing to comply with court orders.
    — Alanna Durkin Richer, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2026
  • The state did not seek to dismiss allegations related to Morrissey’s statements to the media or to her agreement to log a cache of bullets under a separate case number, functionally hiding them from the defense.
    — Gene Maddaus, Variety, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of dismiss
Verb
  • The 49ers have played from ahead in each of their three games, minimizing obvious passing situations and third-and-longs.
    — Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Those challenges include performing nonlinear operations, incorporating memory, maintaining computational precision, minimizing optical losses and integrating photonic components with conventional electronics.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of minimize
Verb
  • The group of senators — which includes all Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Africa panel — criticized both sides of the conflict.
    — Adrian Elimian, semafor.com, 28 Sep. 2026
  • In 2021, Cruz sought to revoke Major League Baseball’s century-old antitrust immunity after the MLB decided to move its All-Star Game from Atlanta in response to a new Georgia voting law civil rights groups had criticized as restrictive.
    — Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of criticize
Verb
  • Yes, that’s twice as many treatment options as the previous Series 2 mask—which means this pick is clinically proven to diminish the appearance of crepiness by stimulating collagen and elastin, as well as pigmentation concerns.
    — Jenny Berg, Vogue, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Likewise, the failure to hire an effective leader for the Blockchain Association has diminished the industry’s influence in the Capitol.
    — Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of diminish
Verb
  • Dunn is doubtful efforts to disparage Nixon’s attachment to DSA will work, noting that doing so could lead to greater turnout.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 25 Sep. 2026
  • An Ohio judge recently ordered both parties to remove social media posts about each other that were considered disparaging.
    — Christopher Buchanan, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of disparage
Verb
  • Today, some of Nashville’s biggest stars have aligned themselves with (or shrewdly eschewed criticism of) a political movement that has denigrated countless demographic groups, including Punjabi immigrants.
    — Harmeet Kaur, CNN Money, 19 Sep. 2026
  • Trump’s preference for immediate gratification explains many of his decisions, including defunding scientific and medical research, accelerating fossil-fuel emissions, and denigrating American soft power globally.
    — Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of denigrate
Verb
  • Though Paulina typically spends her days belittling her friends and humiliating Nana, presently, her focus is on something grander.
    — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Trump, who seems to enjoy belittling reporters more than most other aspects of his job, lives for television coverage.
    — Orlando Sentinel, The Orlando Sentinel, 25 Sep. 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 3 Oct. 2026.

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