as in defamation
the making of false statements that damage another's reputation
the governor's office issued a statement accusing the state's largest newspaper of libel
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to smear
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of libel
Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 8 Feb. 2025
On New Year’s Eve, Baldoni and nine other plaintiffs, including crisis publicist Melissa Nathan and Abel sued the New York Times for $250 million for libel.
—Tatiana Siegel, Variety, 21 Mar. 2025
Pat Beall, Orlando Sentinel, 22 Dec. 2024
Luckily for anyone still Christmas shopping, however, the court has continued pressing Giuliani for his assets, which are expected to be sold at auction to pay for a portion of the damages owed to the plaintiffs, whom Giuliani libelled with false claims of election malfeasance.
—Dan Greene, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for libel
Noun
Her allegations were also highlighted in a New York Times deep dive, after which Baldoni filed a $250 million libel lawsuit against the paper.
—Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 8 Feb. 2025
On New Year’s Eve, Baldoni and nine other plaintiffs, including crisis publicist Melissa Nathan and Abel sued the New York Times for $250 million for libel.
—Tatiana Siegel, Variety, 21 Mar. 2025
Verb
Even if the jury found Trump was libeled, a money award would involve proving his reputation was damaged.
—Pat Beall, Orlando Sentinel, 22 Dec. 2024
Luckily for anyone still Christmas shopping, however, the court has continued pressing Giuliani for his assets, which are expected to be sold at auction to pay for a portion of the damages owed to the plaintiffs, whom Giuliani libelled with false claims of election malfeasance.
—Dan Greene, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for libel
Recent Examples of Synonyms for libel
Noun
-
Newsmax was motivated to raise money through an IPO partly due to the defamation lawsuits against the channel stemming from the 2020 election.—
Brian Stelter,
CNN Money,
1 Apr. 2025
-
Last year, Newsmax settled a defamation lawsuit filed by voting company Smartmatic, which the regulatory filing says included a cash payment of $40 million over time.—
Aimee Picchi,
CBS News,
31 Mar. 2025
Verb
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By that point the sweatshirt was smeared with their many flavors on offer: chocolate, pistachio and Biscoff.—
Kiana Hayeri,
New York Times,
26 Mar. 2025
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Assailants have stalked them in public and smeared them online.—
Cora Engelbrecht,
The Atlantic,
25 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
He was chucked into prison for slandering a member of the royal family.—
Emily Zarevich,
JSTOR Daily,
4 Apr. 2025
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We Americans get slandered around the world as a bunch of fat, lazy, selfish slobs.—
Josh Hammer,
Newsweek,
19 Mar. 2025
Verb
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By settling with Trump, two of the firms that Trump targeted — Paul Weiss and Skadden Arps — have disgraced the legal community and turned their backs on their public duty to fight tyranny.—
Robert B. Reich,
Hartford Courant,
1 Apr. 2025
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Some former generals involved in martial law decades ago had ended up in prison and been publicly disgraced.—
Choe Sang-Hun,
New York Times,
10 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The network is still fighting another lawsuit from voting machine firm Dominion Voting Systems, which sued the company for $1.6 billion in damages in August 2021, alleging that Newsmax defamed Dominion in its coverage of the 2020 election.—
Giacomo Tognini,
Forbes.com,
31 Mar. 2025
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In January, Baldwin filed a lawsuit alleging prosecutors violated his civil rights and defamed him.—
Brendan Morrow,
USA Today,
26 Mar. 2025
Verb
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His tariffs were not based on the import taxes charged by other countries but by the size of each trade deficit, a calculation that instantly discredited the policy with many economists and investors.—
Time,
Time,
10 Apr. 2025
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Bolsonaro’s efforts to discredit the election had already found allies abroad.—
Jon Lee Anderson,
New Yorker,
7 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Libel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/libel. Accessed 15 Apr. 2025.
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