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
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
For years, the British government maintained that the dead were combatants and that some of them belonged to the I.R.A.
To family members, this was a calumny that for decades shadowed their lives.
—David Segal, New York Times, 13 Oct. 2023
Claiming otherwise is a despicable calumny.
—James Freeman, WSJ, 25 May 2021
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
For years, the British government maintained that the dead were combatants and that some of them belonged to the I.R.A.
To family members, this was a calumny that for decades shadowed their lives.
—David Segal, New York Times, 13 Oct. 2023
Claiming otherwise is a despicable calumny.
—James Freeman, WSJ, 25 May 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for calumny
Noun
-
Baldoni denied the claims and filed a $400 million defamation suit against Lively as well as a $250 million libel lawsuit against The Times, both of which have since been tossed.—
Jami Ganz,
New York Daily News,
21 Jan. 2026
-
The filing was later tossed, as was Baldoni’s $250 million libel lawsuit against The New York Times for its coverage of Lively’s allegations.—
Jami Ganz,
Mercury News,
16 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Anti-SLAPP laws are generally used to prevent people from using expensive defamation suits to target or punish others for their speech.—
Seth Klamann,
Denver Post,
27 Jan. 2026
-
The actress, 39, is featured in Silenced, which centers around the weaponization of defamation laws against abuse survivors.—
Raven Brunner,
PEOPLE,
25 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Calumny.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/calumny. Accessed 30 Jan. 2026.
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