variants
or libelled
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for libeled
Verb
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Jason’s windshield was smeared, and the late-afternoon sunlight came through hazily.—
Akhil Sharma,
New Yorker,
28 Aug. 2025 -
After many years of legal battles with the city, Smollett lost his job on Empire and his reputation was smeared.—
Lea Veloso,
StyleCaster,
22 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Moreno calls accusations ‘slander’ In a statement provided to The Bee, Moreno denied the accusations and said she was being slandered.—
Nicole Nixon,
Sacbee.com,
9 Aug. 2025
Verb
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In 2022, the courts ruled that Jones defamed the families of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting, in which six adults and 20 children were killed.—
Fernando Cervantes Jr,
USA Today,
15 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The conference was maligned all year and played down to its reputation with only four total bids and just one team advancing to the Sweet 16.—
Jon Wilner,
Mercury News,
31 Mar. 2025
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Much of black metal has typically maligned Christianity and other institutional religions, and some practitioners took parts in Norwegian church burnings in the 1990s.—
Mikal Gilmore,
Rolling Stone,
30 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Undocumented immigrants are sometimes vilified while their employers escape criticism, according to Bradley, a retired attorney whose career represented business interests.—
Rick Barrett,
jsonline.com,
3 Sep. 2025
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Israel is not merely charged with war crimes — it is vilified as a genocidal regime, guilty of starving and killing civilians en masse.—
Avi Weiss,
New York Daily News,
10 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Eventually, however, Lowell’s ideas were discredited—Schiaparelli, once an ally, renounced them—and the world moved on.—
Jon Allsop,
New Yorker,
29 Aug. 2025
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By the end of the year, the cold fusion bubble had burst, the technology was discredited, and the concept relegated to bad spy fiction and conspiracy theories.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
29 Aug. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Libeled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/libeled. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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