1
as in defamation
the making of false statements that damage another's reputation
the actor's lawyers charge that the tabloid engaged in a deliberate campaign of character assassination
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in libel
the use of personal attacks or insults in order to undermine an opponent
refused to resort to character assassination even if it meant losing his bid for governor
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of character assassination
As the moon clashes with Mercury, competition can lead to character assassinations!
—
USA TODAY, 10 Nov. 2024
At the same time, politicians talked while the top brass stole, and all Ivan was left with was mindless paperwork — and now character assassination.
—Sarah A. Topol, New York Times, 20 Sep. 2024
Farber harshly criticizes Cuba’s treatment of blacks, homosexuals, and political dissidents and exposes the Castro regime’s practice of obfuscating policy debates through character assassination.
—Richard Feinberg, Foreign Affairs, 1 Jan. 2012
Being falsely painted as a liar when I was never given the full story or played any part of the song is character assassination.
—EW.com, 6 Aug. 2024
See All Example Sentences for character assassination
USA TODAY, 10 Nov. 2024
At the same time, politicians talked while the top brass stole, and all Ivan was left with was mindless paperwork — and now character assassination.
—Sarah A. Topol, New York Times, 20 Sep. 2024
Farber harshly criticizes Cuba’s treatment of blacks, homosexuals, and political dissidents and exposes the Castro regime’s practice of obfuscating policy debates through character assassination.
—Richard Feinberg, Foreign Affairs, 1 Jan. 2012
Being falsely painted as a liar when I was never given the full story or played any part of the song is character assassination.
—EW.com, 6 Aug. 2024
See All Example Sentences for character assassination
Recent Examples of Synonyms for character assassination
Noun
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Baldoni is suing her and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for defamation.—
J. Kim Murphy,
Variety,
8 Mar. 2025
-
Some of those lies have been costly: In 2023, Fox News settled with Dominion Voting Systems in a defamation lawsuit, paying almost $800 million to avoid trial, according to The Associated Press.—
Carolyn Komatsoulis,
Idaho Statesman,
8 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Freedman has suggested that Gottlieb was responsible, at least in part, for the bombshell New York Times article regarding Lively’s accusations against Baldoni, who is currently suing the publication for libel and false light invasion of privacy.—
Larisha Paul,
Rolling Stone,
3 Feb. 2025
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Baldoni is suing Lively, Reynolds, and their PR rep for defamation and extortion, as well as the NYT for libel.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
22 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Which means those bureaucracies are ripe for waste, fraud and abuse.—
Gordon G. Chang,
Newsweek,
3 Mar. 2025
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Trump fired 17 inspectors general, the watchdogs that scrutinize agencies for waste, fraud and abuse.—
Bart Jansen,
USA TODAY,
2 Mar. 2025
Noun
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In a 224 to 198 vote, the House approved a censure resolution against Green, with 10 Democrats joining all Republicans in favor of the move.—
Caitlin Yilek,
CBS News,
6 Mar. 2025
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In the end, however, Johnson decided to go with Newhouse’s censure resolution.—
Mychael Schnell,
The Hill,
5 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Focus on professional factors rather than personal criticisms.—
Caroline Castrillon,
Forbes,
10 Mar. 2025
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Prominent pro-Israel voices, as well as critics of Israel, defended the movie — or at least called on their allies to tone down the criticism.—
Ben Sales,
Sun Sentinel,
10 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Character assassination.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/character%20assassination. Accessed 14 Mar. 2025.
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