libel
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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He was also found to have perjured himself on oath during the libel trial.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
He was found to have lied in libel action he had brought against The Star newspaper, in which he was awarded £500,000 in damages.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
The painter sued him for libel in a case that proved a Pyrrhic victory, leaving the plaintiff bankrupt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
“In fact, the legal threat is much greater in the U.K. because the libel laws are tougher in the U.K. So there was no fear around putting it out in the U.S.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 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
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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
Heard’s lawyers, who have filed their own countersuit against Depp, say nothing in the article libels him.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 19, 2022
"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 did not retract his libels, but he made an exception for Banneker by allowing him to participate in surveying the District of Columbia.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018
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In effect, he had no role whatsoever in promoting Callender’s libels against Adams.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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I will be consulting my lawyers regarding what was libeled against me on 'The View' this morning.
From Salon ● Dec. 14, 2023
Harry claims the article was “fundamentally inaccurate” and the newspaper libeled him when it suggested he lied in his initial public statements about his case challenging the government.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 8, 2023
The store’s owners, Allyn Gibson and his son, David Gibson, sued Oberlin College in 2017, claiming they had been libeled by the school and their business had been harmed following protests over the shoplifting.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 16, 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
It was libeled against him that he had magnetic power over all with whom he came in contact, bending them to his will by the sheer dominance of his presence.
From Nancy Stair A Novel by Elinor Macartney Lane
However the Court of Appeal dismissed Mr Fox's bid to overturn the finding that he had libelled Mr Blake and Mr Seymour.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2025
"Scott was detained and interviewed at that time, however, due to a lack of corroboration, no charges were able to be libelled."
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2018
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
For approving of the execution of Charles I. by his English subjects, one Paul Dupuy was held to have libelled the monarchy and to have encouraged sedition.
From Old Quebec The Fortress of New France by Claude Glennon Bryan
Judge Karen Steyn on Friday cleared Coleen Rooney of libeling Rebekah Vardy when she alleged that Vardy had leaked her private social media posts to the tabloid press.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 29, 2022
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
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
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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
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
Her second marriage ended in divorce within a year, and she had to settle out of court with her first husband's family over accusations that she was libelling them in her act.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 21, 2012
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
Lord George Gordon, familiar to all who have read “Barnaby 20 Rudge,” died in 1793, of gaol-fever, in one of the cells of Newgate, after several years of confinement, for libelling the Queen of France.
From In Jail with Charles Dickens by Alfred Trumble
Vocabulary lists containing libel
All About That Baseless: Bad-Faith Accusations
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"The Great Gatsby," Chapter 1 Vocabulary
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "J," "K," and "L"
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