a defaming or being defamed; detraction, slander, or libel
Origin of defamation
Middle English defamacioun from Old French difamacion from Late Latin diffamatio
noun
Defamation is defined as the act of ruining someone's reputation through slander or libel.
An example of defamation is spreading lies about a public figure that destroys his career.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
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"defamation." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 13 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/DEFAMATION>.
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defamation. (n.d.). Retrieved February 13th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/DEFAMATION
defamation
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"defamation." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 13 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/DEFAMATION>.
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defamation. (n.d.). Retrieved February 13th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/DEFAMATION
defamation
noun
The act of defaming; calumny, slander, or libel.
Related Forms:
- de·fam′a·to′ry
adjective
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"defamation." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 13 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/DEFAMATION>.
APA Style
defamation. (n.d.). Retrieved February 13th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/DEFAMATION
Noun
(plural defamations)
- Act of injuring another's reputation by any slanderous communication, written or oral; the wrong of maliciously injuring the good name of another; slander; detraction; calumny; aspersion.
Origin
From Old French diffamacion (French diffamation), from Latin diffamatio
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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MLA Style
"defamation." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 13 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/DEFAMATION>.
APA Style
defamation. (n.d.). Retrieved February 13th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/DEFAMATION
defamation - Legal Definition
n
The utterance of a false
statement that harms the reputation of another. Although most state laws
require that a defamatory statement be made with knowledge of its falsehood, in
some jurisdictions a cause of action exists for negligent defamation. Libel (involving a written false
statement, including statements transmitted on the Internet) and slander (spoken, as opposed to
written, false statements), are both forms of defamation.
Webster's New World Law Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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MLA Style
"defamation." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 13 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/DEFAMATION>.
APA Style
defamation. (n.d.). Retrieved February 13th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/DEFAMATION
Sentence Examples
- Cruise got wind of it and filed a defamation suit against Sapir.
- GLAAD - the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation - staged a large protest outside of the ceremony.
- (6) Defamation was taken away in England by 18 & 19 Vict.
- Danby therefore ordered a return from every diocese of the numbers of dissenters, both Romanist and Protestant, in order by a proof of their insignificance to remove the royal scruples.3 In December 1676 he issued a proclamation for the suppression of coffee-houses because of the "defamation of His Majesty's Government" which took place in them, but this was soon withdrawn.
- "No stronger proof," says Mark Pattison, "can be given of the inpressions produced by this powerful philippic, dedicated to the defamation of an individual, than that it has been the source from which the biography of Scaliger, as it now stands in our biographical collections, has mainly flowed."
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