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Harming someone's reputation in speech with falsehoods is known as slander, and doing the same thing in writing is known as libel (which sometimes includes speech as well). Any ordinary citizen who can claim to have suffered harm as a result of such defamation may sue. So why aren't politicians suing all the time? Because an exception is made for "public persons" (a category that includes most other celebrities as well), who must also prove that any such statement was made with "reckless disregard for the truth". And although, even by that standard, public persons are defamed all the time, most of them have decided that it's better to just grin and bear it.
Synonyms
Examples of defamation in a Sentence
Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 17 Jan. 2025
What the lawsuit says: Baldoni, in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday, accuses Lively and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, of defamation and extortion.
—Rebecca Morin, USA TODAY, 17 Jan. 2025
Another defamation suit against Fox News from a second voting tech company, Smartmatic, is scheduled to go to trial later this year.
—David Folkenflik, NPR, 16 Jan. 2025
Two Georgia poll workers won $148 million in their defamation trial against Giuliani.
—Victoria Bekiempis, Vulture, 16 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Defamation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/defamation. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
defamation
noun
W. L. Prosser and W. P. Keeton
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