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libel

[lahy-buhl] / ˈlaɪ bəl /
NOUN
purposeful lie about someone, often malicious
Synonyms
Antonyms




Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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That led to Bridgen suing for libel, stating that people would have believed him to be antisemitic.

From BBC Jul. 29, 2026

In 1964, a unanimous Supreme Court said the 1st Amendment’s protection for the freedom of speech and the press limited state libel verdicts.

From Los Angeles Times Jun. 29, 2026

One newspaper denounced “The Playboy of the Western World” as an “unmitigated, prolonged libel upon Irish peasant men and, worse still, upon Irish peasant girlhood.”

From The Wall Street Journal Apr. 24, 2026

The case type is described as "Media and Communication -- Part 7 Claim -- Defamation -- libel and slander".

From Barron's Apr. 10, 2026

He’d also been convicted of fraud for a scam in which he got an obituary of himself published, then sued the newspaper for libel and damages up to $100 million.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

What’s needed is a pragmatic and courageous paradigm shift, one that begins with naming and recognizing the contemporary libels used to demonize Jews.

From The Wall Street Journal Jan. 26, 2026

How do I help our Christian friends understand that the Jewish people still face blood libels today?

From Washington Post Oct. 12, 2021

In response, Meshi-Zahav wrote a letter saying “these libels are baseless and appear more as gossip and closing of accounts against me.”

From Seattle Times Mar. 15, 2021

"Far from increasing a public figure’s burden in a defamation action, the common law deemed libels against public figures to be, if anything, more serious and injurious than ordinary libels," Thomas wrote.

From Fox News Feb. 19, 2019

Jefferson regretted to inform Adams that the story was untrue; he had not compiled a collection of the libels against himself.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

I will be consulting my lawyers regarding what was libeled against me on 'The View' this morning.

From Salon Dec. 14, 2023

A federal appeals court has ruled that a Russian Orthodox priest can sue the people he claims libeled him and tarnished his reputation in that faith community.

From Washington Times Aug. 18, 2022

Actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are back in court to determine whether Heard libeled her ex-husband in 2018 when she wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post.

From Los Angeles Times Apr. 19, 2022

Store owners Allyn Gibson and his son, David Gibson, sued Oberlin College in November 2017 claiming they had been libeled by the school and their business had been harmed.

From Seattle Times Apr. 1, 2022

I was bullied by the prosecutor, scathingly censured by the judge, libeled by the press, cursed by the public, and deserted by my own attorney.

From Born Again by Alfred Lawson

The dead can’t be libelled, but they can have their privacy invaded.

From Nature May 1, 2018

Sally Bercow settled her case with Lord McAlpine after being found to have libelled him on Twitter.

From The Guardian May 26, 2013

The council went to court in California after three councillors and an official complained they were libelled in a blog called "Mr Monkey".

From BBC May 30, 2011

South Tyneside Council went to court in California after three councillors and an official complained they were libelled in a blog called "Mr Monkey".

From BBC May 29, 2011

Ultimately Maza was punished by imprisonment, and the penalty of the law was also applied to Senor Soto, the responsible editor of one of the papers which had most libelled the American Charge d'Affaires.

From The History of Cuba, vol. 4 by Willis Fletcher Johnson

Claiming that she ruined his reputation and career, Depp is suing Heard for $50 million for allegedly libeling him in a 2018 op-ed she wrote that was published in the Washington Post.

From Los Angeles Times May 25, 2022

The burden is still on Palin to prove that Bennet is guilty of libeling her.

From Slate Feb. 9, 2022

Last month, she sued two Portuguese news outlets for allegedly libeling a New Jersey man by tying him to a far-right Portuguese political party.

From Washington Post Sep. 22, 2021

He then boldly read those words to Congress and millions of people, defaming & libeling me.” — tweets on Sept. 28.

From Seattle Times Oct. 6, 2019

Burr was there because Hamilton had been libeling him throughout their crisscrossing careers in public life.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

In 1992, some of the subjects of “Boys of Zinc,” along with an organization representing the mothers of soldiers killed in the war, sued Alexievich for libelling the Soviet military.

From The New Yorker Oct. 26, 2015

I feel it’s happening already, that the people who say, ‘He’s lying, he’s plagiarising, he’s libelling us’, will end up having more importance than my own research, my own attempts to investigate how things work.”

From The Guardian Oct. 3, 2015

Photograph: Ian Gavan/Getty Images It seems that , found guilty of libelling Lord McAlpine, is a Twitter martyr in some quarters.

From The Guardian May 25, 2013

In 2010, it paid five-figure damages to Sheryl Gascoigne for libelling her over her relationship with her former husband.

From The Guardian Jul. 10, 2011

If you meet that libelling scoundrel again, you remember what I've told you.'

From The Giant's Robe by F. Anstey




Vocabulary lists containing libel


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