calumny
a false and malicious statement designed to injure the reputation of someone or something: The speech was considered a calumny of the administration.
the act of uttering calumnies; slander; defamation.
Origin of calumny
1confusables note For calumny
Other words for calumny
| 2 | vilification, calumniation, derogation |
Words that may be confused with calumny
- calumny , defamation, libel, slander (see confusables note at slander)
Words Nearby calumny
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use calumny in a sentence
He knows his hope for another presidential appointment could be hampered, because, as Choharis told the court, Jefferson “cannot escape the calumny” of false accusations.
He was forced to resign after a government report criticized him. Eight years later, the government took it back. | Joe Davidson | September 24, 2020 | Washington PostOne imagines that the latest pope, a Jesuit, is familiar with the centuries of calumny that have been heaped upon his forebears.
It has been said that the Duke betrayed the Bourbons and was privy to the Emperor's return, but this is a calumny.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-Pattisoncalumny, instead of gratitude, was unsparingly heaped upon herself and her husband.
Madame Roland, Makers of History | John S. C. AbbottThe similitude is a calumny on the descendants of Ishmael; the fiercest Bedouin are refined and mild compared with the Apaches.
Overland | John William De Forest
Neither envy nor calumny had the least influence over me, or I felt it only from persons who had not the power to injure me.
My Ten Years' Imprisonment | Silvio PellicoThen he flung his glove at the king's feet, saying: "Let him who believes that calumny come forward!"
Catherine de' Medici | Honore de Balzac
British Dictionary definitions for calumny
/ (ˈkæləmnɪ) /
the malicious utterance of false charges or misrepresentation; slander; defamation
such a false charge or misrepresentation
Origin of calumny
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse