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bad-mouthing 1 of 2

noun

as in disparagement

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bad-mouthing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of bad-mouth
as in dismissing
to express scornfully one's low opinion of she promptly bad-mouthed that awful movie to everyone she knew

Synonyms & Similar Words

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-mouthing
Verb
After filing the grievance, Chick accused Lieder of bad-mouthing her to other lawmakers. — Nick Coltrain, Denver Post, 18 Aug. 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 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bad-mouthing
  1. disparagement
  2. dismissing
  3. criticism
  4. minimizing
  5. vilification
  6. criticizing
  7. belittlement
  8. diminishing
Noun
  • Iamaleava could have allowed the disparagement to compound, but the starting signal-caller is using it as fuel for a 2026 season where many have the Bruins painted as a potential dark horse.
    — Connor Dullinger, Los Angeles Times, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Her mother, meanwhile, is backed up by her second husband (Kwon), a mild-mannered documentary filmmaker whose profession gives his wife yet more ammunition in her smiling disparagement of Sanghee.
    — Guy Lodge, Variety, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of disparagement
Verb
  • A day after dismissing Dana Brown, Astros owner Jim Crane fielded a question specifically about Bagwell’s potential candidacy.
    — Chandler Rome, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
  • That doesn't mean Cramer is dismissing the risks from higher oil.
    — Alexa LoMonaco, CNBC, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of dismissing
Noun
  • Vucic has pushed hard against the protesters as the government faced international criticism over police violence and arbitrary detentions of demonstrators.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 5 Sep. 2026
  • His political interests would be served if Republicans were to stop attacking Carlson and if Carlson were to tone down his criticism of the GOP.
    — Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of criticism
Verb
  • This curious experimenter group is all about catching mistakes, working through early unexpected results—hello, hallucinations—and minimizing adoption pains.
    — Robbie Morrison, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Use a balance transfer credit card A balance transfer can move your existing debt to a new card offering a low or 0% introductory APR, potentially giving you a year or longer to pay down the balance while minimizing interest charges.
    — Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of minimizing
Noun
  • Founders Gary Acosta and Pedro Guerrero highlighted the paradox of Latinos being economic drivers and cultural influencers despite underrepresentation and vilification.
    — Isaac Mizrahi, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026
  • If stepping up to guide a community through a crisis risks personal and professional vilification once the lights turn on, the best and brightest will simply choose to stay on the sidelines.
    — Ronald Nahass, STAT, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of vilification
Verb
  • As public support for Clancy grew by the day, online sleuths went to work challenging the prosecution’s narrative, closely scrutinizing witnesses and criticizing authorities for not investigating certain details more aggressively.
    — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Some fans viewed the collaboration cynically, criticizing it as a way for Beyoncé to capitalize on Selena’s legacy, or to court more Latino fans.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of criticizing
Noun
  • During Season 10, a newly confident Batula — who seemed to despise Cooke from the first minute of the premiere episode — appeared to be poised to launch a triumphant post-divorce arc, free at last from Cooke’s belittlement and verbal abuse.
    — Kate Aurthur, Variety, 29 June 2026
  • Apolline may embrace the social media aspects of her career but George’s belittlement rankles her.
    — Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor, 14 Aug. 2025
Definition of belittlement
Verb
  • Seemingly, the only thing that could slow down the automobile takeover was diminishing fuel supplies, fear of which had become a fixation of American oil companies and government officials after the Armistice.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Having already weathered so many attacks aimed at diminishing its power, the remaining Iranian leadership, which learned to tolerate hardship in the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, is unlikely to be cowed by further aggression.
    — JAMES F. JEFFREY, Foreign Affairs, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of diminishing

Browse Nearby Words

bad-mouthed
bad-mouthing
bad-mouths
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Cite this Entry

“Bad-mouthing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bad-mouthing. Accessed 16 Sep. 2026.

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