defame
verb
Simple meaning
To say bad things about someone that are not true.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
dihfaymSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
dɪˈfeɪm
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
To harm or diminish the reputation of; to disparage.
To disgrace; to bring into disrepute.
Charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To disgrace; to bring into disrepute.
Used this way, defame is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- calumniate , rarer, so it draws attention
- besmirch , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use defame
- “The journalists have defamed me!”verb
Share your sentence
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
One who attacks the reputation of another by slander or libel.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A false accusation of an offense or a malicious misrepresentation of someone's words or actions.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: to harm or diminish the reputation of
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “defame” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.