Meaning & use
slander
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Meanings
noununcountablelegal
The act of saying false things about someone in speech, damaging their reputation.
Grammar: Uncountable; common frames are sue for slander and accuse someone of slander.
Patterns
- sue someone for slander
- accuse someone of slander
- a case of slander
He is suing his former business partner for slander.
The judge ruled that the accusation was pure slander.
nouncountable
A false spoken statement that harms a person's reputation.
Grammar: Countable in this sense: a vicious slander, several slanders.
Patterns
- a vicious slander
- spread a slander
- a slander against someone
Calling her a thief in front of the staff was a vicious slander.
The story turned out to be a slander invented by his rivals.
verbtransitive
To make false spoken statements that damage someone's reputation.
Grammar: Takes the person as its object: slander someone; the written equivalent is to libel someone.
Patterns
- slander someone
- slander a colleague
- be slandered
She threatened to take action against anyone who slandered her family.
He was slandered by callers repeating made-up stories.
Word forms
| third person singular | slanders |
|---|---|
| past tense | slandered |
| past participle | slandered |
| -ing form | slandering |
Common combinations
- sue for slander
- The actor decided to sue for slander after the false claims spread.
- vicious slander
- She described the rumors as vicious slander.
- a slander against someone
- The apology admitted the report had been a slander against the minister.
Synonyms and how they differ
- defame
- Formal and covers both spoken and written attacks; slander is specifically spoken.
- smear
- Suggests a planned effort to ruin someone's name, often in public or political life.
- vilify
- Emphasizes harsh, abusive language rather than false statements that legally damage reputation.
Opposites
Word family
- slanderous adjective
- constituting slander; falsely damaging to reputation
- slanderer noun
- a person who utters slander
Commonly confused: slander or libel?
slander vs libel
Libel is defamation in written or published form; slander is spoken, so the medium decides which word applies.
Practice
A rival falsely told customers, face to face, that the baker reused spoiled ingredients. This spoken claim would legally be called ___.
Choose one answer.
Because the damaging false statement was spoken, it is slander; libel is the written or published form, flattery is insincere praise, and gossip is informal talk that is not necessarily a legal wrong.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “slander”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.