whispering campaign
Covert smear effort
A whispering campaign is an organized effort to damage someone's reputation through rumors, gossip, and innuendo spread informally rather than through official channels.
The strategy relies on deniability—accusations circulate without traceable sources: The candidate was undone by a whispering campaign about his personal life.
Political campaigns and corporate boardrooms are common settings.
- slanderSpoken false defamation
- innuendoOblique disparaging remark
- character assassinationDestroying someone's good name
- insinuationIndirect, usually negative suggestion
- rumor millInformal gossip network
machination · electioneering · subterfuge · mudslinging · gossip · misinformation · sotto voce · hearsay · off the record · smack-talk · rumor · propaganda · poison pen · detractor · hidden agendas · plausible deniability · media frenzy · tabloid journalism
- gossiprumor, rumors, gossip, hearsay, scuttlebutt
- defamationslander, libel, defamation, defamatory statement, defaming
- smear tacticssmear, mudslinging, attack ads, hit piece, hit pieces
- false accusationsfalse accusation, false charge, false claim, wrongful accusation, bum rap
whispering campaignpress conference
Organized media Q&A
open letter · public debate · formal complaint · broadcasting
whispering campaignpromotional campaign
Coordinated advertising effort
endorsement · grassroots support · charm offensive · character witness · puff piece
whisper, whispered, whisperer, whisperers, whispers, campaign, campaigned, campaigner, campaigners