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:
To tell lie about; to calumniate; to slander.
From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) by Webster, Noah
The Magian went to Cambyses to calumniate his brother, saying that his mind was set on evil.
From The History of Antiquity Vol. VI. (vol. VI. of VI.) by Duncker, Max
"You are my father's friend, and you calumniate him!"
From Garrick's Pupil by Filon, Auguston
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 Ingersoll, Robert Green
If there should be any cruel enough, ungenerous enough, or base enough," sobbed she, "to calumniate me, you will be my protector; and beneath your roof shall I find my refuge.
From The Dodd Family Abroad, Vol. I by Lever, Charles James
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
He calculates that, on his death, his book will be calumniated, as well as his reputation, and his arguments misrepresented, or mutilated.
From Ecce Homo! A Critical Inquiry into the History of Jesus of Nazareth: Being a Rational Analysis of the Gospels by Holbach, Paul Henry Thiry Baron d'
But some one secretly published the story, and envious persons calumniated me by telling the Tsar that I had disobeyed his will.
From Autobiography of Countess Tolstoy by Tolstoy, Sophie Andreevna
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
John P—— and others were indicted in 1692 for slandering, calumniating, reproaching, and taking away the good name of John Adams, late bailie of Paisley, and others; and for drinking the devil's health.
From The Mysteries of All Nations Rise and Progress of Superstition, Laws Against and Trials of Witches, Ancient and Modern Delusions Together With Strange Customs, Fables, and Tales by Grant, James, archaeologist
Lord Byron answered, depreciating himself in a literary sense, and calumniating himself morally, by the assertion that he resembled Lord Lyttelton's son—a bad, though talented man—rather than the great author.
From My Recollections of Lord Byron by Jerningham, Hubert E. H. (Hubert Edward Henry), Sir
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.
