bad-mouth

verb

ˈbad-ˌmau̇th How to pronounce bad-mouth (audio)
-ˌmau̇t͟h
bad-mouthed; bad-mouthing; bad-mouths

transitive verb

: to criticize severely

Examples of bad-mouth in a Sentence

she promptly bad-mouthed that awful movie to everyone she knew
Recent Examples on the Web John Legend isn't about to let anyone bad-mouth the people in his hometown of Springfield, Ohio. Mary Cunningham, CBS News, 13 Sep. 2024 He was eventually allowed in — but only after other SEALs threatened to leave and bad-mouth the bar. Brian Murphy, Washington Post, 21 June 2024 Sabatini, a former state rep, has kissed up slavishly to Donald Trump, often by repeatedly bad-mouthing fellow Republicans — including Ron DeSantis — in an effort to curry favor with the former president. Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel, 17 June 2024 Falsified emails get dispersed to bad-mouth programs. Ethan Fuller, BostonGlobe.com, 12 June 2023 BlenderBot 3 is still available online, despite it bad-mouthing Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and saying all kinds of offensive things. Emma Roth, The Verge, 5 Mar. 2023 Such agreements, including broad nondisparagement and confidentiality requirements, are widely used in layoffs or workplace legal disputes as a way for employers to ensure that employees won’t bad-mouth the company after the ink dries. Taylor Telford, Washington Post, 9 Mar. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bad-mouth.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1941, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bad-mouth was in 1941

Dictionary Entries Near bad-mouth

Cite this Entry

“Bad-mouth.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bad-mouth. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

bad-mouth

verb
-ˌmau̇th,
-ˈmaut͟h
: to say bad things about
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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