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
-
Just look at the amounts that news organizations are paying for libel insurance.—
David Wingrave,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
-
Jim talked me through the legal complexities of both Peltier’s case and the libel suits.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The latter defendant has already stood trial alongside Rey in September 2024 on defamation charges brought by Brigitte Macron and her brother Jean-Michel Trogneux.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
27 Oct. 2025
-
Atkinson sued Noll for defamation but lost the suit.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
27 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Calumny.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/calumny. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
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