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
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
Apparently, Sue has been putting all of her time not already occupied by bad-mouthing Kyle into digging under rocks and cliffs looking for idols.
—Dalton Ross, EW.com, 5 Dec. 2024
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
Apparently, Sue has been putting all of her time not already occupied by bad-mouthing Kyle into digging under rocks and cliffs looking for idols.
—Dalton Ross, EW.com, 5 Dec. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bad-mouth
Verb
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On Wednesday, in documents obtained by Rolling Stone, a California superior court judge overseeing the lawsuit ruled in favor of Kardashian and the anti-SLAPP motion, effectively dismissing the other Cantu’s lawsuit, though the judge left open the possibility of an appeal.—
Daniel Kreps,
Rolling Stone,
6 Nov. 2025
-
This company’s approach to pest control begins with a philosophy that dismisses the business-as-usual assumptions.—
Malana VanTyler,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Act quickly to keep the stain from setting and to minimize the damage.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
11 Nov. 2025
-
Advanced hull geometry, radar-absorbing coatings, and an electronic degaussing system minimize magnetic and electric signatures.—
Kapil Kajal,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
House Democrats swiftly criticized the Senate.—
Orianna Rosa Royle,
Fortune,
10 Nov. 2025
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Bibelheimer also had good reason to criticize the film, as Ferrell’s portrayal of her was wildly at odds with the truth.—
Sarah Weinman,
Rolling Stone,
9 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Not to diminish, but anybody can create their own AI characters, right?—
Gene Maddaus,
Variety,
11 Nov. 2025
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The institutions built to prevent such suffering are straining under the weight of geopolitical rivalries, eroding trust, and diminishing political will.—
ARIF HUSAIN,
Foreign Affairs,
11 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Under this logic, to note that Washington owned slaves is to disparage him but to pretend that those nine people never existed comes at no cost to their memory.—
Jill Lepore,
New Yorker,
10 Nov. 2025
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In the reunion episode, which aired Wednesday, Stause alleged that Davis had made disparaging comments about the use of gender-neutral pronouns and defended the practice of white people singing along to the N-word in music.—
Samantha Allen,
Them.,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
The publication is choosing to praise Trump slightly while denigrating his appearance as well.—
Nicole Russell,
USA Today,
16 Oct. 2025
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That’s not to denigrate Punch, which is solidly built and well-meaning without sanctimony.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
30 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The bride shared that the moment left her feeling belittled, even as guests laughed along.—
Ashley Vega,
PEOPLE,
6 Nov. 2025
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Instead of listening, prominent voices on the Left, like AOC, choose to belittle her.—
Amy Reichert,
Oc Register,
29 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bad-mouth.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bad-mouth. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.
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