as in to criticize
formal
to criticize (a person's character, intentions, etc.) by suggesting that someone is not honest and should not be trusted
He impugned his rival's character. Her motives have been scrutinized and impugned.
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of impugn
Some of the officials involved have embraced a tactic of impugning Goldberg as a strawman diversion from the real controversy.
—
Tony Bradley, Forbes.com, 26 Mar. 2025
Berman stressed that the investigation itself does not impugn Montoya or Bay FC.
—Jerry McDonald, The Mercury News, 7 Mar. 2025
Rather, it is being used to impugn Baldoni's character and demonstrate malicious intent on his part.
—Barbara A. Perry, Newsweek, 27 Jan. 2025
The issue here is not to impugn the individual Catholics who are decent people and who contribute to a more just society.
—Chicago Tribune, 26 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impugn
Tony Bradley, Forbes.com, 26 Mar. 2025
Berman stressed that the investigation itself does not impugn Montoya or Bay FC.
—Jerry McDonald, The Mercury News, 7 Mar. 2025
Rather, it is being used to impugn Baldoni's character and demonstrate malicious intent on his part.
—Barbara A. Perry, Newsweek, 27 Jan. 2025
The issue here is not to impugn the individual Catholics who are decent people and who contribute to a more just society.
—Chicago Tribune, 26 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impugn
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impugn
Verb
-
Local and state officials criticized the immigration operation in the area Friday.—
Zoe Sottile,
CNN Money,
3 Nov. 2025
-
Leipold said after a long pause, referencing fines for criticizing officiating.—
Shreyas Laddha,
Kansas City Star,
2 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Congressional Republican leaders have even begun blaming him for the federal government shutdown.—
Ben Adler,
USA Today,
2 Nov. 2025
-
Several reasons were to blame for the scary-low turnout, including a dearth of new releases as well as the misfortune of Halloween landing on a Friday, which meant families were distracted by trick-or-treating.—
Rebecca Rubin,
Variety,
2 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
As many as a third of LGBTQ+ people who were arrested were denounced, that is reported to the Nazis, by their friends and family.—
Kate Sosin,
Them.,
31 Oct. 2025
-
The policy has drawn sharp criticism from human rights organizations and international law experts, who have denounced the attacks as extrajudicial killings.—
Antonio María Delgado,
Miami Herald,
30 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Then Vice President Cheney condemned those behind the torture scandal, while at the same time defending water-boarding as a useful means of extracting vital intelligence (many intelligence experts say water-boarding is torture, and its victims will say anything to avoid further abuse).—
Ben Wedeman,
CNN Money,
5 Nov. 2025
-
There are many who thought this day would never come, who feared that we would be condemned only to a future of less with every election consigning us simply to more of the same.—
TIME Video,
Time,
5 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
The United States has imposed sanctions on eight North Korean individuals and two entities, accusing them of laundering funds from cybercrime and fraud and channeling them into the North’s nuclear weapons program.—
Robert Birsel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
-
Agents with Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin's office last week arrested two Helena-West Helena residents, one of them an employee with the state Department of Corrections, accused of working together to defraud the state's Medicaid program, a Tuesday news release from Griffin's office states.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
5 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Impugn.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impugn. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share