as in defamation
the making of false statements that damage another's reputation
this smearing has got to stop, or the voters will conclude that there's absolutely no one worth voting for
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in coating
to rub an oily or sticky substance over
the toddler gleefully smeared her hair and face with maple syrup
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in libelling
to make untrue and harmful statements about
he is willing to smear his opponent if doing so would win the election
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smearing
Noun
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Smartmatic and Fox News are each asking a New York judge to rule in their favor in the election systems company’s $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against the network.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
1 May 2025 -
What To Know Wallace filed his defamation lawsuit following Lively's administrative complaint.—
Jenna Sundel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 May 2025
Noun
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Baldoni then filed a $250 million libel lawsuit against The New York Times for its bombshell exposé into Lively’s claims.—
Karu F. Daniels,
New York Daily News,
10 May 2025
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Early criticism of the Wayfarer-Lively case compared the proceedings to the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard libel suit in 2022.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
29 Apr. 2025
Verb
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In the painting Untitled (Gram Yatra), Husain emphasizes the centrality of village and rural life in India as the basis for going forward as a new nation.—
Karen K. Ho for ARTnews,
Robb Report,
20 Mar. 2025
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The categories are painting, drawing, mixed media, printmaking, sculpture, photography, digital art and video/animation.—
Anne Gelhaus,
The Mercury News,
20 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Poor data quality can provide wrong models and alerts, discrediting predictive monitoring.—
Hrushikesh Deshmukh,
Forbes,
24 Feb. 2025
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Johnson released new guidelines for reporting gifts Wednesday after discrediting the investigation.—
Jake Sheridan,
Chicago Tribune,
14 Feb. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Smearing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smearing. Accessed 15 May. 2025.
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