as in libel
the making of false statements that damage another's reputation
a blogger whose site is little more than a foulmouthed forum for calumny and rumormongering
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Recent Examples of calumny
Pratt was just another angry New Yorker hectoring calumnies against all forms of authority.
—
Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 14 May 2026
The declaration also highlights the need to report facts, not suppress or falsify information, and avoid discrimination, bribery, and calumny.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 May 2026
Shapiro released a special 41-minute episode of his podcast detailing Fuentes’s career of calumnies against Black people, Indian Americans, Jews, and women—and called out Carlson’s refusal to confront the young white supremacist about any of it.
—Yair Rosenberg, The Atlantic, 4 Feb. 2026
The Sermon on the ‘Mount episode also represented, amid the resulting furor on the right, a canny announcement that the collected calumnies of creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are finally available on the Paramount Plus streaming service, after years licensed on Warner Bros.
—David Bloom, Forbes.com, 28 July 2025
That’s when his ugly-American calumny turned to blather.
—Armond White, National Review, 28 May 2025
That brings us to the other calumnies Vance and Trump have directed at the Haitians in Springfield.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2024
Within Israel, though, the ICJ case is seen by most as a calumny that only proves antisemitism’s enduring nature.
—Marc Champion, Twin Cities, 21 Jan. 2024
Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 14 May 2026
The declaration also highlights the need to report facts, not suppress or falsify information, and avoid discrimination, bribery, and calumny.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 May 2026
Shapiro released a special 41-minute episode of his podcast detailing Fuentes’s career of calumnies against Black people, Indian Americans, Jews, and women—and called out Carlson’s refusal to confront the young white supremacist about any of it.
—Yair Rosenberg, The Atlantic, 4 Feb. 2026
The Sermon on the ‘Mount episode also represented, amid the resulting furor on the right, a canny announcement that the collected calumnies of creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are finally available on the Paramount Plus streaming service, after years licensed on Warner Bros.
—David Bloom, Forbes.com, 28 July 2025
That’s when his ugly-American calumny turned to blather.
—Armond White, National Review, 28 May 2025
That brings us to the other calumnies Vance and Trump have directed at the Haitians in Springfield.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2024
Within Israel, though, the ICJ case is seen by most as a calumny that only proves antisemitism’s enduring nature.
—Marc Champion, Twin Cities, 21 Jan. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for calumny
Noun
-
Zenger was arrested and accused of seditious libel or content that challenged the authority of the state.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
28 May 2026
-
The nation's highest court overturned a libel case against the newspaper, which had run an ad condemning police treatment of civil rights demonstrators in Montgomery, Alabama.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
26 May 2026
Noun
-
The Albert and McCabe families have also sued Read and Aidan Kearney, who runs the Turtleboy X account, for defamation.—
Colleen Cronin,
Boston Herald,
8 June 2026
-
In December 2025, the rapper won a defamation case against blogger Milagro Gramz.—
Raven Brunner,
PEOPLE,
5 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Calumny.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/calumny. Accessed 10 Jun. 2026.
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