Nearby Words
| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | slander |
| Synonyms: | defamation, lie |
| Main Entry: | attack |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | verbal assault |
| Synonyms: | abuse, aggression, belligerence, blame, calumny, censure, combativeness, criticism, denigration, denunciation, impugnment, libel, pugnacity, slander, vilification |
| Antonyms: | defense, reprisal, resistance, retreat, submission, surrender |
| Main Entry: | backbiting |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | hateful talk |
| Synonyms: | abuse, aspersion, backstabbing, belittlement, calumniation, calumny, cattiness, defamation, denigration, depreciation, detraction, disparagement, gossip, invective, lie, malice, obloquy, scandal, slander, spite, spitefulness, tale, traducement, vilification, vituperation |
| Antonyms: | encouragement, praise |
| Main Entry: | defamation |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | libel, slander |
| Synonyms: | aspersion, backbiting, backstabbing, belittlement, black eye, calumny, character assassination, cheap shot, denigration, depreciation, detraction, dirt, dirty laundry, disparagement, dump*, dynamite, hit, knock, lie, low-down dirty, mud, obloquy, opprobrium, scorcher, slam*, slap in face, slime, slur, smear, tale, traducement, vilification |
| Antonyms: | approval, commendation, compliment, exaltation, praise |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | detraction |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | misrepresentation; slander |
| Synonyms: | abuse, aspersion, backbiting, backstabbing, belittlement, calumny, damage, defamation, denigration, deprecation, derogation, disesteem, disparagement, harm, hit, hurt, injury, injustice, innuendo, insinuation, knock*, libel, libeling, lie, maligning, minimization, muckraking, obloquy, pejorative, revilement, ridicule, running down, scandal, scandalmongering, scurrility, slam, smear campaign, tale, traducement, traducing, vilification, vituperation, wrong |
| Antonyms: | admiration, adulation, flattery, praise |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | disparagement |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | strong criticism; detraction |
| Synonyms: | aspersion, backbiting, backstabbing, belittlement, blame, calumny, censure, condemnation, contempt, contumely, debasement, degradation, denunciation, depreciation, derision, derogation, discredit, disdain, impairment, lessening, lie, prejudice, reproach, ridicule, scandal, scorn, slander, tale, underestimation |
| Antonyms: | approval, commendation, compliment, flattery, praise, sanction |
| Main Entry: | gossip |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | talk about others; rumor |
| Synonyms: | account, babble, back-fence talk, blather, blether, buzz*, calumny, chatter, chitchat, chronicle, clothesline, conversation, cry, defamation, dirty laundry, dirty linen, dirty wash, earful, grapevine, hearsay, idle talk, injury, malicious talk, meddling, news, prate, prattle, report, scandal, scuttlebutt, slander, small talk, story, tale, talk, whispering campaign, wire |
| Antonyms: | fact |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | libel |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | purposeful lie about someone, often malicious |
| Synonyms: | aspersion, calumny, defamation, denigration, lying, malicious, obloquy, smear, vituperation |
| Notes: | libel (from Latin libellus 'little book') must be published, while spoken defamatory remarks are slander; libel first meant 'document, written statement' slander is spoken defamation; libel is written or visual or broadcast defamation |
| Antonyms: | compliment, praise |
| Main Entry: | lie |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | untruth |
| Synonyms: | aspersion, backbiting, calumniation, calumny, deceit, deception, defamation, detraction, dishonesty, disinformation, distortion, evasion, fable, fabrication, falsehood, falseness, falsification, falsity, fib, fiction, forgery, fraudulence, guile, hyperbole, inaccuracy, invention, libel, mendacity, misrepresentation, misstatement, myth, obloquy, perjury, prevarication, revilement, reviling, slander, subterfuge, tale, tall story, vilification, white lie, whopper |
| Notes: | to lay is to place something; to lie is to recline |
| Antonyms: | honesty, truth |
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
