character assassination

noun

: the slandering of a person usually with the intention of destroying public confidence in that person

Examples of character assassination in a Sentence

None of those rumors are true. She's been the victim of character assassination. the actor's lawyers charge that the tabloid engaged in a deliberate campaign of character assassination
Recent Examples on the Web At the same time, politicians talked while the top brass stole, and all Ivan was left with was mindless paperwork — and now character assassination. Sarah A. Topol, New York Times, 20 Sep. 2024 Farber harshly criticizes Cuba’s treatment of blacks, homosexuals, and political dissidents and exposes the Castro regime’s practice of obfuscating policy debates through character assassination. Richard Feinberg, Foreign Affairs, 1 Jan. 2012 Being falsely painted as a liar when I was never given the full story or played any part of the song is character assassination. EW.com, 6 Aug. 2024 The mud-slinging and character assassinations started after Trump decided to enter the political arena. Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 5 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for character assassination 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'character assassination.' 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

1822, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of character assassination was in 1822

Dictionary Entries Near character assassination

Cite this Entry

“Character assassination.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/character%20assassination. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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