as in slander
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Recent Examples of backbiting
Sadly, Sister Wives has really become an experience of criticism and backbiting.
—
Liza Esquibias, PEOPLE, 28 Sep. 2025
The industry functions on a delicate infrastructure of intimidation, backbiting, and the occasional contract amid endless favors, yanking Aasmaan through its machinations like a rag doll in the wind.
—Proma Khosla, IndieWire, 19 Sep. 2025
The Girlfriend does not pretend all of this plotting and backbiting isn’t soapy nonsense.
—Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2025
The depictions of the New York literati scene, with its backbiting and wary camaraderie, are effective but all too brief.
—Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor, 3 Apr. 2025
Liza Esquibias, PEOPLE, 28 Sep. 2025
The industry functions on a delicate infrastructure of intimidation, backbiting, and the occasional contract amid endless favors, yanking Aasmaan through its machinations like a rag doll in the wind.
—Proma Khosla, IndieWire, 19 Sep. 2025
The Girlfriend does not pretend all of this plotting and backbiting isn’t soapy nonsense.
—Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2025
The depictions of the New York literati scene, with its backbiting and wary camaraderie, are effective but all too brief.
—Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor, 3 Apr. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for backbiting
Noun
-
But that wasn’t the only Scheshu slander on Vanderpump Villa season 3.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
19 Apr. 2026
-
This narrative that has been created, that image that anyone who speaks against a revolution is thrown into jail, that’s a big lie, that’s a slander, and that’s part of that construct, in order to vilify and to engage a character assassination of the Cuban Revolution.—
NBC news,
NBC news,
12 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Shapiro released a special 41-minute episode of his podcast detailing Fuentes’s career of calumnies against Black people, Indian Americans, Jews, and women—and called out Carlson’s refusal to confront the young white supremacist about any of it.—
Yair Rosenberg,
The Atlantic,
4 Feb. 2026
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The Sermon on the ‘Mount episode also represented, amid the resulting furor on the right, a canny announcement that the collected calumnies of creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are finally available on the Paramount Plus streaming service, after years licensed on Warner Bros.—
David Bloom,
Forbes.com,
28 July 2025
Noun
-
Alfie now faces four defamation lawsuits filed by Milei's close allies seeking millions in damages.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Maxwell denied the allegations and sued Giuffre for defamation.—
Julie K. Brown,
Miami Herald,
26 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Prince Harry is being sued for libel by his former charity Sentebale.—
Chanel Vargas,
InStyle,
10 Apr. 2026
-
Online filings show Harry and his friend, Mark Dyer, a former trustee at the charity, are being sued for either libel or slander.—
Brian Melley,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
In this delightful piece of armchair naturalism, Henion’s goal is to change our vilification of darkness, to see it instead as a restorative balm, and to stoke curiosity about nocturnal landscapes and creatures.—
The Know,
Denver Post,
26 Apr. 2026
-
Analysts say Kim’s vilification of South Korea reflects his view that Seoul, which helped arrange his first meetings with Trump in 2018 and 2019, is no longer a useful intermediary with Washington but an obstacle to his push for a more assertive regional role.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
23 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The contract contained a non-disparagement clause, and in law, the special thing about disparagement is that unlike defamation, the truth is not a defense against disparagement.—
Marlow Stern,
Variety,
28 Apr. 2026
-
And the Times Magazine suggested the idea of discovering a similar past disparagement clause to the one that plagued HBO might dissuade any network from tackling a future Jackson project.—
Steve Knopper,
Rolling Stone,
22 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Not Calvin Klein casting gay aspersions!—
Emma Specter,
Vogue,
19 Feb. 2026
-
But in the end, their stories were deeper than the aspersions cast upon them.—
Hunter Ingram,
Variety,
8 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
For me, this marks an early moment in the denigration of women.—
Eana Kim,
ARTnews.com,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Nowhere is there the vitriol or denigration found in MAGA gatherings.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
1 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Backbiting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backbiting. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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