backbiting

noun

Definition of backbitingnext
as in slander

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for backbiting
  1. slander
  2. calumny
  3. defamation
  4. libel
  5. vilification
  6. aspersion
  7. detraction
Noun
  • Republican Party slander about Haitian immigrants in Springfield led directly to bomb threats and the closure of schools and government buildings.
    Chadd Scott, Forbes, 10 Oct. 2024
  • Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy dissented, noting that Ohio's one-year statute of limitations for slander and libel cases has stood since 1853.
    Laura A. Bischoff, The Enquirer, 8 Aug. 2024
Definition of slander
Noun
  • That brings us to the other calumnies Vance and Trump have directed at the Haitians in Springfield.
    Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2024
  • Sifton and Stern conclude their book with a look at how even after the Nazis’ defeat, the Bonhoeffer and Dohnanyi families faced public and official calumny for being relatives of traitors.
    Peter Hoffmann, Foreign Affairs, 18 June 2014
Definition of calumny
Noun
  • After a defamation lawsuit, the film’s publishers, Salem Media Group, retracted the film, removing it from its platforms, and said there wouldn't be any future distribution of the book.
    Dhruv Mehrotra, WIRED, 5 Nov. 2024
  • The campaign season featured accusations of misinformation, including a defamation lawsuit, out-of-state money, and continued the state's trend of increasingly expensive election cycles.
    Cy Neff, USA TODAY, 5 Nov. 2024
Definition of defamation
Noun
  • Rachel Weisz played you in Denial, the movie about your being sued for libel by a Holocaust denier.
    Karl Vick, TIME, 29 Oct. 2024
  • The initial libel case related to Robinson making false accusations against a Syrian schoolboy who was attacked in an incident shared widely on social media.
    Lauren Kent, CNN, 28 Oct. 2024
Definition of libel
Noun
  • There is a logic to Donald Trump’s dangerous pattern of false vilification which was forecasted in Eric Hoffer’s The True Believer, which revealed the effectiveness of division to fuel mass movements over history.
    Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, TIME, 8 Oct. 2024
  • Next, the pop star, 25, opened up about how incorporating her sexuality into her work has resulted in some of the vilification that Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera have experienced over the years.
    Ilana Kaplan, People.com, 2 Oct. 2024
Definition of vilification
Noun
  • Even as China’s coercive capabilities and threatening behavior have rightly focused U.S. attention on the risks to American interests, the absence of clear metrics for success leaves the door open for partisan aspersions of the Biden administration’s approach.
    Jessica Chen Weiss, Foreign Affairs, 16 Sep. 2024
  • Soon, politicians arrive at the local village to deliver empty sermons about compensation, but aspersions are cast on the dead man and his middle-aged son Ganesh (Nemchand), who are accused of concocting a suicide scheme for a quick payout.
    Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 26 Feb. 2024
Definition of aspersion
Noun
  • Many smart investors, among them, several of my colleagues, cannot warm up to these stocks because of such obvious detractions as the lack of new products, patent expirations, and price controls.
    Karen Firestone, CNBC, 29 Sep. 2024
  • That means that the overriding security responsibility will be left in Israel's hands, and that's a detraction of sovereign powers.
    Eric Cortellessa/Jerusalem, TIME, 8 Aug. 2024
Definition of detraction
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.

Thesaurus Entries Near backbiting

backbeats

backbiting

backbone

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Backbiting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backbiting. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

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More from Merriam-Webster on backbiting

Nglish: Translation of backbiting for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of backbiting for Arabic Speakers

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