bad-mouth

or bad·mouth

[ bad-mouth or, sometimes, -mouth ]
See synonyms for: bad-mouthbad-mouthing on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),bad-mouthed, bad-mouth·ing.
  1. Slang. to speak critically and often disloyally of; disparage: Why do you bad-mouth your family so much?

Origin of bad-mouth

1
1935–40; originally a curse, spell (the sense recorded in Gullah); compare Vai (Mande language of Liberia and Sierra Leone) dà nyà mà curse, literally, bad mouth

Other words from bad-mouth

  • bad-mouther, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use bad-mouth in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bad-mouth

bad-mouth

verb
  1. (tr) slang to speak unfavourably about

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with bad-mouth

bad-mouth

Disparage or criticize unduly, malign, as in Why do you constantly bad mouth your colleagues? This term is believed to be of African origin, where the phrase bad mouth signifies a curse or evil spell. [1930s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.