bad-mouth
or bad·mouth
[ bad-mouth or, sometimes, -mouth ]
/ ˈbædˌmaʊθ or, sometimes, -ˌmaʊð /
verb (used with object), bad-mouthed, bad-mouth·ing.
Slang. to speak critically and often disloyally of; disparage: Why do you bad-mouth your family so much?
Nearby words
bad sort, a, bad taste, bad time, bad trip, bad trot, bad-mouth, bad-tempered, bada-bing, badajoz, badakhshan, badalona
Origin of bad-mouth
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
Related forms
bad-mouth·er, nounDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for bad-mouth
bad-mouth
verb
(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