SLANDER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does slander mean? 

• SLANDER (noun)
  The noun SLANDER has 2 senses:

1. words falsely spoken that damage the reputation of another

2. an abusive attack on a person's character or good name

  Familiarity information: SLANDER used as a noun is rare.

• SLANDER (verb)
  The verb SLANDER has 1 sense:

1. charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone

  Familiarity information: SLANDER used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SLANDER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Words falsely spoken that damage the reputation of another

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("slander" is a kind of...):

calumniation; calumny; defamation; hatchet job; obloquy; traducement (a false accusation of an offense or a malicious misrepresentation of someone's words or actions)

speech act (the use of language to perform some act)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "slander"):

mud (slanderous remarks or charges)

Derivation:

slander (charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone)

slanderous ((used of statements) harmful and often untrue; tending to discredit or malign)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An abusive attack on a person's character or good name

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

aspersion; calumny; defamation; denigration; slander

Hypernyms ("slander" is a kind of...):

attack (strong criticism)

Derivation:

slander (charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone)

slanderous ((used of statements) harmful and often untrue; tending to discredit or malign)

• SLANDER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they slander    ... he / she / it slanders   
Past simple: slandered   
Past participle: slandered   
-ing form: slandering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

asperse; besmirch; calumniate; defame; denigrate; slander; smear; smirch; sully

Context example:

The article in the paper sullied my reputation

Hypernyms (to "slander" is one way to...):

accuse; charge (blame for, make a claim of wrongdoing or misbehavior against)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "slander"):

assassinate (destroy or damage seriously, as of someone's reputation)

libel (print slanderous statements against)

badmouth; drag through the mud; malign; traduce (speak unfavorably about)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

slander (an abusive attack on a person's character or good name)

slander (words falsely spoken that damage the reputation of another)

slanderer (one who attacks the reputation of another by slander or libel)

 Context examples 

I have a place to repair to, which will be a secure sanctuary from hateful reminiscences, from unwelcome intrusion—even from falsehood and slander.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

He looked—and this is said in all contempt for the babbled slander of his garden—as if he had "killed a man."

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)