as in defamation
the making of false statements that damage another's reputation
this smearing has got to stop, or the voters will conclude that there's absolutely no one worth voting for
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in coating
to rub an oily or sticky substance over
the toddler gleefully smeared her hair and face with maple syrup
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in libelling
to make untrue and harmful statements about
he is willing to smear his opponent if doing so would win the election
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smearing
Noun
-
Trump asked a judge to order News Corp founder Rupert Murdoch to testify immediately in his defamation lawsuit over the Wall Street Journal’s reporting on Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, with the president citing the 94-year-old media mogul’s age to justify the request.—
Danielle Chemtob,
Forbes.com,
29 July 2025 -
His lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal seeking $10 billion for defamation because of a sketch on a birthday card is beyond laughable.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
28 July 2025
Noun
-
The lawsuit also accused Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and publicist Leslie Sloane of civil extortion, but was tossed in early June, along with Baldoni’s $250 million libel lawsuit against The New York Times, for its coverage of Lively’s claims.—
Jami Ganz,
New York Daily News,
31 July 2025
-
But tensions escalated when Exeter later shared a private message from Jessica, who allegedly alluded to taking legal action for libel.—
Stephanie Petit,
People.com,
30 July 2025
Verb
-
In the painting Untitled (Gram Yatra), Husain emphasizes the centrality of village and rural life in India as the basis for going forward as a new nation.—
Karen K. Ho for ARTnews,
Robb Report,
20 Mar. 2025
-
The categories are painting, drawing, mixed media, printmaking, sculpture, photography, digital art and video/animation.—
Anne Gelhaus,
The Mercury News,
20 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
Poor data quality can provide wrong models and alerts, discrediting predictive monitoring.—
Hrushikesh Deshmukh,
Forbes,
24 Feb. 2025
-
Johnson released new guidelines for reporting gifts Wednesday after discrediting the investigation.—
Jake Sheridan,
Chicago Tribune,
14 Feb. 2025
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.
Cite this Entry
“Smearing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smearing. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share