LIBELED Synonyms: 40 Similar and Opposite Words

libeled

verb

variants or libelled

past tense of libel

as in smeared

to make untrue and harmful statements about the court decided that the newspaper's reportage of the former mayor, while irresponsible, did not constitute an effort to libel him

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for libeled

Verb

Sweat glistened on the white foundation smeared across her face.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026
One prank involved Quan, Capshaw, and Harrison Ford surprising Spielberg with ice cream smeared all over their faces for one take.

— Marina Watts, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Sep. 2026

Definition of smeared

Verb

However, Rob Shuter is reporting that Meghan believes Kate purposefully humiliated her by recently taking Princess Charlotte on the London Underground.

— Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 15 Oct. 2026
His daughter is humiliated, and the message could not be clearer.

— Kathryn VanArendonk, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of humiliated

Verb

Despite their high-profile 1996 divorce, disgraced ex-Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson remained extremely close for years.

— Allison DeGrushe, StyleCaster, 10 Oct. 2026
Hugo Weaving plays a brilliant but disgraced attorney, drowning in debt, who reluctantly defends an allegedly dangerous dog, battling to save its life.

— Emily Longeretta, Variety, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of disgraced

Verb

But earlier this year, a judge rejected Combs’ claim that he was defamed, noting in a 12-page decision that the documentary makers did not act irresponsibly or defame him.

— Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 7 Oct. 2026
Clemishire’s lawsuit, which was filed in 2025, claimed that Morris and other church leaders defamed her in an internal statement to staff and mischaracterized the abuse.

— Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of defamed

Verb

Some of this was exacerbated by going to Duke, of course, which has a history of some of its best players being vilified nationwide.

— Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 30 Sep. 2026
But Timothy Leary’s version became the dominant idea of psychedelics, and when President Ronald Reagan’s War on Drugs began, psychedelics were vilified as the gateway to ruin.

— Claire Hoffman, Rolling Stone, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of vilified

Verb

Milli Vanilli won a Grammy, got all this attention and then got discredited and didn’t replace Barbra Streisand or Bruce Springsteen or Taylor Swift or the Eurythmics or The Rolling Stones.

— Ethan Millman, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2026
Scientists have thoroughly discredited such claims for decades.

— Ashique KhudaBukhsh, The Conversation, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of discredited

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.

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libel

libeled

libeler

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“Libeled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/libeled. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of libeled

verb

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