CALUMNY DEFINITIONS - 10 definitions found
calumny n 1: a false accusation of an offense or a malicious misrepresentation of someone's words or actions [syn: defamation, calumny, calumniation, obloquy, traducement, hatchet job] 2: an abusive attack on a person's character or good name [syn: aspersion, calumny, slander, defamation, denigration] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (2003) calumny noun (plural -nies) Etymology: Middle English calumnye, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French calomnie, from Latin calumnia, from calvi to deceive; perhaps akin to Old English hōlian to slander, Greek kēlein to beguile Date: 15th century 1. a misrepresentation intended to harm another's reputation 2. the act of uttering false charges or misrepresentations maliciously calculated to harm another's reputation • calumnious adjective • calumniously adverb Oxford English Reference Dictionary
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner\'s English Dictionary calumny (calumnies) Calumny or a calumny is an untrue statement made about someone in order to reduce other people's respect and admiration for them. (FORMAL) He was the victim of calumny. = slander N-VAR English Explanatory Dictionary calumny ˈkæləmnɪ n. & v. --n. (pl. -ies) 1 slander; malicious representation. 2 an instance of this. --v.tr. (-ies, -ied) slander. øøcalumnious adj. [L calumnia] Handy Dictionary of Poetical Quotations Calumny Calumny will sear Virtue itself: these shrugs, these hums, and ha's. SHAKESPEARE: Wint. Tale, Act ii., Sc. 1. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) Calumny \Cal"um*ny\, n.; pl. Calumnies. [L. calumnia, fr. calvi to devise tricks, deceive; cf. F. calomnie. Cf. Challenge, n.] False accusation of a crime or offense, maliciously made or reported, to the injury of another; malicious misrepresentation; slander; detraction. ``Infamous calumnies.'' --Motley. Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. --Shak. Soule\'s Dictionary of English Synonyms calumny n. Slander (known to be false), defamation, aspersion, backbiting, detraction, abuses, scandal, obloquy, false accusation, malicious lying. Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 26 Moby Thesaurus words for "calumny": abuse, animadversion, backbiting, backstabbing, belittlement, bitchiness, calumniation, cattiness, contumely, defamation, depreciation, disparagement, invective, libel, obloquy, opprobrium, reflection, revilement, scandal, scurrility, slander, stricture, tale, traducement, vilification, vituperation |
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