defamatory

[dih-fam-uh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee]

adjective

1. containing defamation; injurious to reputation; slanderous or libelous.

   She claimed that the article in the magazine was defamatory.

defamatory

/ -trɪ, dɪˈfæmətərɪ /

adjective

1. injurious to someone's name or reputation

Other Word Forms

• nondefamatory adjective
• undefamatory adjective
• defamatorily adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of defamatory¹

First recorded in 1585–95; from Medieval Latin diffāmātōrius, equivalent to Latin diffāmā(re) ( defame ) + -tōrious -tory ¹

Example Sentences

“The unprecedented decision by the Board to place Villanueva on a ‘Do Not Hire’ was the result of a defamatory charge of discrimination and harassment,” the former sheriff wrote in the June complaint.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Patricia Glaser, an attorney representing Schmidt, called the lawsuit “yet another desperate and destructive effort to publish false and defamatory statements to escape accountability from an existing arbitration over a business dispute.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He wants a full retraction of the Panorama documentary, an apology for the "false, defamatory, disparaging, misleading and inflammatory statements" made about him in it, and appropriate compensation "for the harm caused".

Read more on BBC

It accuses the BBC of making "false, defamatory, disparaging, misleading, and inflammatory statements" about him.

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"I was genuinely shocked to be described in such an appalling and defamatory way," Mr Wishart said in a statement.

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Related Words

• derogatory 
• disparaging 
• injurious 
• insulting