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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

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

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

Adams had orchestrated “a libel on the French government” as part of his “swindling experiment.”

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




Vocabulary lists containing libel


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