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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.

The New York Times has said libel action threatened against it by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over an article alleging sexual assaults against Palestinian detainees by Israeli security services is "without merit".

From BBC • May 15, 2026

A year after he lampooned a judge in a mocking poem, he had the misfortune of standing before him charged with seditious libel for a pamphlet satirizing the Church.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026

He has been questioned in court before about his alleged IRA past - at the Ballymurphy inquest in Belfast in 2019 and during a libel case against the BBC in Dublin last year.

From BBC • Mar. 9, 2026

In 1932 she reported on the libel trial brought against Hitler by a former Nazi henchman.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026

Sullivan changed the standard for defamation and libel by requiring plaintiffs to prove malice—that is, evidence of actual knowledge on the part of the publisher that a statement is false.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson




Vocabulary lists containing libel


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