as in defamation
the making of false statements that damage another's reputation
public maligning of a person can actually be grounds for a lawsuit
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in insulting
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in smearing
to make untrue and harmful statements about
a candidate who believes that it is possible to win an election without maligning anyone
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for maligning
Noun
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Justin Baldoni's lawyer said Blake Lively should hold off on celebrating after a judge dismissed the actor's $400 million defamation lawsuit against her.—
Megan Cartwright,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 June 2025 -
However, the countersuit was dismissed on Monday, June 9, along with Baldoni's $250 million defamation lawsuit against The New York Times.—
Sharareh Drury,
People.com,
11 June 2025
Adjective
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The state legislature just passed the most insulting budget and laws this state has ever seen.—
Michelle Jefferson,
Baltimore Sun,
4 June 2025
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Despite the decision falling in line with White House policy, Rep. Nancy Pelosi – whose San Francisco district includes the Castro – said erasing Milk from the military is particularly insulting.—
Andy Rose,
CNN Money,
4 June 2025
Noun
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In response, Baldoni filed a $250 million libel lawsuit against The Times, which was quickly followed by a $400 million defamation and civil extortion suit against Lively, Ryan Reynolds and publicist Leslie Sloane.—
Jami Ganz,
New York Daily News,
14 June 2025
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What followed has been months of claims and counterclaims, press statements and counter-statements, as well as a libel lawsuit from Baldoni against the Times.—
David Mack,
Rolling Stone,
10 June 2025
Adjective
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The 2023 Economic Report Of The President published in March of 2023 was relatively disparaging of cryptoassets and DLTs.—
Lawrence Wintermeyer,
Forbes,
5 Dec. 2024
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Prior to appearing on Cunningham's show on Monday, Huggins made more disparaging remarks about Xavier.—
Emily DeLetter,
The Enquirer,
10 May 2023
Adjective
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But while the Internet is torn over whether Carpenter’s submissive position on the Man’s Best Friend cover is funny or degrading, Whoopi Goldberg was more concerned with something else.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
12 June 2025
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Much like Ventura, Jane said she was also plied with drugs to keep her awake performing degrading acts, sometimes for days on end.—
Jessica Schladebeck,
New York Daily News,
7 June 2025
Adjective
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Being high and coerced into this demeaning lifestyle.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
11 June 2025
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The comments in screen shots of the chat room were demeaning and vulgar – as were the texts from the anonymous messenger who had sent her the images.—
Yoonjung Seo and Mike Valerio,
CNN Money,
25 Apr. 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
Adjective
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In recent weeks, though, her group has doubled in size, and while in the past there were only two or three posts per day, Mitchell and her new moderators now have to wade through 60-plus comments ranging from helpful to libelous.—
Brenna Ehrlich,
Rolling Stone,
25 Apr. 2025
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In Britain, Musk has called for the release of Tommy Robinson, a far-right extremist who was jailed for 18 months in October for repeating a libelous claim about a Syrian refugee schoolboy attacking girls.—
Kim Hjelmgaard,
USA TODAY,
7 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Maligning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/maligning. Accessed 18 Jun. 2025.
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