as in libelous
causing or intended to cause unjust injury to a person's good name
defamatory remarks that were published in the newspaper
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Recent Examples of defamatory
Posts that include false or defamatory statements, personal attacks, or confidential company information aren’t protected, for example.
—
Johnny C. Taylor Jr, USA Today, 28 Oct. 2025
The lawyers also argued that the article is not defamatory.
—Dan Mangan, CNBC, 22 Oct. 2025
The countersuit also alleges that Gables shared his previous lawsuit with the media and that Smith’s reputation has been damaged by the defamatory claims, resulting in the rapper being dropped from two advertising campaigns.
—Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 13 Oct. 2025
For example, the state can rightly regulate defamatory statements or obscene material.
—Timothy R. Holbrook, The Conversation, 2 Oct. 2025
Second, the article is not defamatory, according to the Journal’s filing.
—Todd Spangler, Variety, 22 Sep. 2025
Per the outlet, his lawyers claim that the docuseries was defamatory and would infringe their right to a fair trial.
—Jordana Comiter, PEOPLE, 17 Sep. 2025
After a series of lawsuits, a judge found the author's claims defamatory.
—Evan Mealins, The Tennessean, 10 Sep. 2025
Meghan's team has been arguing the statements complained about were largely opinions or were substantially true, and therefore not defamatory.
—Jack Royston, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Sep. 2025
Johnny C. Taylor Jr, USA Today, 28 Oct. 2025
The lawyers also argued that the article is not defamatory.
—Dan Mangan, CNBC, 22 Oct. 2025
The countersuit also alleges that Gables shared his previous lawsuit with the media and that Smith’s reputation has been damaged by the defamatory claims, resulting in the rapper being dropped from two advertising campaigns.
—Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 13 Oct. 2025
For example, the state can rightly regulate defamatory statements or obscene material.
—Timothy R. Holbrook, The Conversation, 2 Oct. 2025
Second, the article is not defamatory, according to the Journal’s filing.
—Todd Spangler, Variety, 22 Sep. 2025
Per the outlet, his lawyers claim that the docuseries was defamatory and would infringe their right to a fair trial.
—Jordana Comiter, PEOPLE, 17 Sep. 2025
After a series of lawsuits, a judge found the author's claims defamatory.
—Evan Mealins, The Tennessean, 10 Sep. 2025
Meghan's team has been arguing the statements complained about were largely opinions or were substantially true, and therefore not defamatory.
—Jack Royston, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defamatory
Adjective
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In recent weeks, though, her group has doubled in size, and while in the past there were only two or three posts per day, Mitchell and her new moderators now have to wade through 60-plus comments ranging from helpful to libelous.—
Brenna Ehrlich,
Rolling Stone,
25 Apr. 2025
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And in this age of clickbait journalism, even those members of the legacy media have resorted to libelous headlines and false reports to generate views.—
Zach Schonfeld,
The Hill,
24 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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So that's completely erroneous.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
2 Nov. 2025
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Grokipedia also contains some erroneous statements.—
Miranda Jeyaretnam,
Time,
28 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Defamatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defamatory. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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