asperse

[ uh-spurs ]
See synonyms for asperse on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object),as·persed, as·pers·ing.
  1. to attack with false, malicious, and damaging charges or insinuations; slander.

  2. to sprinkle; bespatter.

Origin of asperse

1
1480–90; <Latin aspersus besprinkled (past participle of aspergere), equivalent to a-a-5 + -sper- (combining form of spar-, variant of sparg-sparge) + -sus, variant of -tus past participle suffix

Other words for asperse

Other words from asperse

  • as·pers·er, noun
  • as·per·sive, adjective
  • as·per·sive·ly, adverb
  • un·as·persed, adjective
  • un·as·per·sive, adjective

Words Nearby asperse

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

How to use asperse in a sentence

  • I don't wish to asperse the fellow, but he does have a background as a Republican staffer and operative.

    Who Inspects the Inspector? | Michael Tomasky | August 20, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • As for the company at the Wells, he would challenge every man at Epsom, if necessary, if he should dare to asperse his bravery.

    The Chaplain of the Fleet | Walter Besant and James Rice
  • We were not long in finding who it was that had been so base as to asperse the character of a family so harmless as ours.

    The World's Greatest Books, Vol IV. | Editors: Arthur Mee and J.A. Hammerton
  • Everything that rancour, low wit, and deplorable ignorance could conceive to asperse my government, was put in execution.

  • Superior excellence is the general mark for calumny; and envy is usually led to asperse what it cannot imitate.

    Alida | Amelia Stratton Comfield
  • Wait until your honest Evan comes back before you venture to asperse his lordship's deputy.'

    The Making of William Edwards | Mrs. G. Linnaeus Banks

British Dictionary definitions for asperse

asperse

/ (əˈspɜːs) /


verb(tr)
  1. to spread false rumours about; defame

  2. rare to sprinkle, as with water in baptism

Origin of asperse

1
C15: from Latin aspersus, from aspergere to sprinkle

Derived forms of asperse

  • asperser, noun
  • aspersive, adjective
  • aspersively, adverb

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