calumny

(kăl'əm-nē)
n., pl., -nies.

1. A false statement maliciously made to injure another's reputation.
2. The utterance of maliciously false statements; slander.

[Middle English calumnie, from Old French calomnie, from Latin calumnia, from calvī, to deceive.]

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Conservative Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Novak slammed the Senate debate on President Bush's judicial nominees using a word referring to malicious lies:

"As Democrats engaged in calumny, Republican corrections of their misstatements went unnoted and generally unheard. The real debate was behind closed doors..."

Link: Supreme Court lurks as real issue

Posted May 24, 2005.

See our Word Overheard blog to see interesting uses of strange words.

noun

The expression of injurious, malicious statements about someone: aspersion, calumniation, character assassination, defamation, denigration, detraction, scandal, slander, traducement, vilification. Law libel. See attack/defend, crimes, law.

the malicious uttering of false charges calculated to damage another's reputation

IN BRIEF: A false and malicious statement meant to injure someone's reputation.

No calumny was used to win the election.

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For a list of words related to calumny, see:

• Falsehood, Pretense, and Exaggeration - calumny: misrepresentations that injure another’s reputation
• Blame, Censure, Ridicule, and Contempt - calumny: false and malicious statements damaging to another’s reputation

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See words rhyming with "calumny."

Dansk (Danish)
n. - bagtalelse
v. tr. - bagtale, bagvaske

Nederlands (Dutch)
laster(praat), zwartmakerij, roddel

Français (French)
n. - calomnie
v. tr. - calomnier

Deutsch (German)
n. - Verleumdung
v. - verleumden

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - συκοφαντία, διασυρμός

Italiano (Italian)
calunnia, diffamazione

Português (Portuguese)
n. - calúnia (f)

Русский (Russian)
клевета

Español (Spanish)
n. - calumnia, difamación
v. tr. - decir calumnias

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - förtal

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
诽谤, 中伤, 毁谤, 恶言重伤

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 誹謗, 中傷
v. tr. - 毀謗, 惡言重傷

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 중상
v. tr. - 중상하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 中傷, 誹謗, 悪口

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) افترا, قذف‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮עלילה, דיבה‬
v. tr. - ‮הלשין, הוציא דיבה‬

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