defame Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone
    sully; smirch; smear; asperse; slander; denigrate; calumniate; besmirch.
    • The journalists have defamed me!" "The article in the paper sullied my reputation

WordNet

De*fame" transitive verb
Etymology
OE. defamen, diffamen, from F. diffamer, or OF. perh. defamer, fr. L. diffamare (cf. defamatus infamous); dis- (in this word confused with de) + fama a report. See Fame.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Defamed ; present participle & verbal noun Defaming
Definitions
  1. To harm or destroy the good fame or reputation of; to disgrace; especially, to speak evil of maliciously; to dishonor by slanderous reports; to calumniate; to asperse.
  2. To render infamous; to bring into disrepute.
    My guilt thy growing virtues did defame; My blackness blotted thy unblemish'd name. Dryden.
  3. To charge; to accuse. R.
    Rebecca is . . . defamed of sorcery practiced on the person of a noble knight. Sir W. Scott.
    Syn. -- To asperse; slander; calumniate; vilify. See Asperse.
De*fame" noun
Definitions
  1. Dishonor. Obs. Chaucer.

Webster 1913