Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Involving or constituting a libel; defamatory.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Containing a libel; of the nature of a libel; defamatory; containing that which exposes to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule: as, a libelous picture.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Containing or involving a libel; defamatory; containing that which exposes some person to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective US defamatory, libeling, referring to something that causes harm to someone's reputation especially with malice or disregard.
  • adjective US meeting the legal standards for libel.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective (used of statements) harmful and often untrue; tending to discredit or malign

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word libelous.

Examples

  • It's emblematic that the extreme leftoblob Michael Moore has even hijacked the title libelous Westphobia "Fahrenheit 9/11".

    The Brussels Journal - The Voice of Conservatism in Europe 2010

  • God; many virtues, according to the common use of that term; many beautiful and graceful charities; and, by such kind of evidences, or proofs, they repel, sometimes with scorn, what they call the libelous, or even the insulting doctrine of total depravity.

    Sermons for the New Life. 1802-1876 1876

  • The district's law firm in 2007 threatened to sue Tetley for what it termed libelous statements posted on www. gisdwatch.com.

    The Daily News - News 2010

  • The district's law firm in 2007 threatened to sue Tetley for what it termed libelous statements posted on www. gisdwatch.com.

    The Daily News - News 2010

  • The district's law firm in 2007 threatened to sue Tetley for what it termed libelous statements posted on www. gisdwatch.com.

    The Daily News - News 2010

  • The district's law firm in 2007 threatened to sue Tetley for what it termed libelous statements posted on www. gisdwatch.com.

    The Daily News - News 2010

  • The district's law firm in 2007 threatened to sue Tetley for what it termed libelous statements posted on www. gisdwatch.com.

    The Daily News - News 2010

  • Here’s my thinking: There’s some controversy over whether a court may enjoin libelous statements after a finding on the merits that the statements are indeed libelous.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » 2004 » September 2004

  • Here’s my thinking: There’s some controversy over whether a court may enjoin libelous statements after a finding on the merits that the statements are indeed libelous.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Tory v. Cochran: 2004

  • The link between Santelli and the so-called astroturfing groups "is potentially libelous, which is, I assume, why the article disappeared this morning," wrote McArdle.

    OpEdNews - Quicklink: Playboy Has Taken Down Its Santelli Story 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.