asperse
Sling mud at
To asperse is to attack someone's reputation with false or damaging claims—to slander or defame: His opponents aspersed his character with rumors of corruption.
The word is formal and relatively rare, more often encountered as the noun aspersion: casting aspersions on her motives.
An older sense means to sprinkle with water, as in religious rituals.
Spoken false defamation
- libelPrinted defamation
- smearSpread or defame
- vilifyAttack someone's reputation
- calumniateSpread false damaging statements
malign · traduce · denigrate · disparage · besmirch · impugn · discredit · blacken
slander
Spoken false defamation
calumniate · malign · traduce · denigrate · disparage · besmirch · impugn · discredit · blacken · stigmatize
blemish
Visible flaw or mark
smirch · soil · blot · corrupt · contaminate · defile · pollute · mar · spoil · stigma
spray
Dispersed liquid droplets
drizzle · besprinkle · dampen · moisten · spritz · droplets · dew · scatter · dash · flick
- disparagementdefame, denigrate, disparage, malign, slander
- tarnishesblemishes, blots, corrupts, defames, denigrates
- defamationslander, libel, defamation, defamatory statement, defaming
- casting aspersionsAttacking someone's reputation
- cast aspersionsAttack someone's reputation