calumniate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of calumniate
1545–55; < Latin calumniātus (past participle of calumniārī to accuse falsely, trick), equivalent to calumni ( a ) calumny + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
To calumniate is to make a false accusation against someone or spread lies about how awful they are. Don’t calumniate your rival in the race for class president, because when the truth comes out, you’ll be the bad guy. The courts would say to calumniate is to slander. Everyone else would just say it’s mean. Calumniate is just a fancier way of saying “lie” — but specifically lying to tarnish someone's reputation. If your sister says you purposely broke a vase and you didn't, she calumniates you. If you get in trouble in class, you could calumniate to the principal about your teacher being a wretched mess — but the other students might speak up and prove you wrong.
Vocabulary lists containing calumniate
Quiz yourself on these words spoken by the man at the center of the "Laurel" / "Yanny" craze!
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"The Wife of Bath's Tale," Vocabulary from the narrative poem
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"The Wife of Bath's Tale" by Geoffrey Chaucer
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
And so he concluded, affirming that the whole course of proceedings in that matter had been mixed with such clemency, as he thought there was none so malicious that could calumniate.
From The Condition of Catholics Under James I. by John Gerard
It is still fashionable to calumniate this man—and yet Channing, Theodore Parker, Longfellow, Emerson, and in fact all the liberal Unitarians and Universalists of the world have adopted the opinions of Thomas Paine.
From The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 3 (of 12) Dresden Edition?Lectures by Robert Green Ingersoll
I am well aware that it is a locality where he enjoys little popularity himself; but at least he need not calumniate its people.
From The Martins Of Cro' Martin, Vol. I (of II) by Charles James Lever
He speaks to calumniate thinkers, and to warn the faithful against the discoveries of science.
From The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 6 (of 12) Dresden Edition?Discussions by Robert Green Ingersoll
"You are my father's friend, and you calumniate him!"
From Garrick's Pupil by Auguston Filon
I’m putting this politely: They have been calumniated and abused for centuries.
From New York Times ● Dec. 11, 2020
A good remedy against calumniation or slander: If you are calumniated or slandered to your very skin, to your very flesh, to your very bones, cast it back upon the false tongues.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 1, 2014
The imperial pair saw a calumniated saint in Rasputin; the people, in the words of a monarchist member of the Duma, saw "the beastly, drunken unclean face of a bald satyr from Tobolsk."
From Time Magazine Archive
I never heard one of those men calumniated as an enemy of the human race.
From Trial of the Officers and Crew of the Privateer Savannah, on the Charge of Piracy, in the United States Circuit Court for the Southern District of New York by A. F. Warburton
As regards the accusations of violence, strictness, and tyranny which were brought against him, Madame Viardot asserts that he was much calumniated both as a father and as a man.
From Garcia the Centenarian And His Times Being a Memoir of Manuel Garcia's Life and Labours for the Advancement of Music and Science by M. (Malcolm) Sterling Mackinlay
He went out more like Nixon, his accomplishments tainted by allegations of criminality, his circle of trust constricted by banishments, betrayals and arrests until it included few besides his temperamental wife and calumniating eldest son.
From New York Times ● Jun. 13, 2021
And after calumniating the greatest masterpieces, they dare couple their obscure names with those of our supreme masters .
From Time Magazine Archive
Adams read in the newspapers that Jefferson had compiled “a Magazine of slips of newspapers, and pamphlets, vilifying, calumniating and defaming you.”
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
"I know only too well that he disliked me, and amused himself by calumniating me; but I am generous and I forgive him!"
From Pinocchio The Tale of a Puppet by Alice Carsey
In reading that work, which the information charges me with calumniating, I can only express my own opinion, as a justification of what I have done.
From The Battle of The Press As Told in the Story of the Life of Richard Carlile By His Daughter, Theophila Carlile Campbell by Theophila Carlile Campbell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
