defame
/dɪˈfeɪm/
defame verb: to disgrace; to bring into disrepute.
Verb
defame (third-person singular simple present defames, present participle defaming, simple past and past participle defamed)
- To disgrace; to bring into disrepute.
- My guilt thy growing virtues did defame; / My blackness blotted thy unblemish'd name.1697, Virgil, “The Tenth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
- Synonyms:
- discredit, dishonour, humiliate, abase, bring down to size, cut down to size, debase, degrade, demean, demote
- To charge; to accuse (someone) of an offence.
- Rebecca is […] defamed of sorcery practised on the person of a noble knight.
- To harm or diminish the reputation of; to disparage.
- to defame somebody
Noun
defame (countable and uncountable, plural defames)
- Disgrace, dishonour.
- And all the sparks that may bring unto flame / Hate betwixt man and wife, or breed defame.1613, John Marston, William Barksted, The Insatiate Countess, I.1
- Defamation; slander, libel.
Adjective
defame (not comparable)
defame meaning in Urdu, Malayalam, Kannada and Thai
defame in Urdu
- بدنام کرنا, بےعزت کرنا, بہتان باندھنا, نام دھرنا, رسوا کرنا, شہرت خراب کرنا
defame in Malayalam
- കഩക്കേട് പരത്തുക, അപകീർത്തിപ്പെടുത്തുക, വ്യാജമായും കുറ്റമാരോപിക്കുക
defame in Kannada
- ಅಪಖ್ಯಾತಿ ತರು, ಅವಮಾನಪಡಿಸು, ಮಾನನಷ್ಟ ಮಾಡು, ಅಪಮಾನಕ್ಕೆ ಗುರಿಮಾಡು, ಕೊಂಡಿಸು, ಹೆಸರು ಕೆಡಿಸು
defame in Thai
- to harm, to diminish the reputation of
- หมิ่นประมาท mìn-bprà-màat
Synonyms of defame
- discredit
- dishonour
- humiliate
- abase
- bring down to size
- cut down to size
- degrade
- demean
- demote
- depress
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- disgrace
- disparage
- downgrade
- give a bad name
- humble
- knock down to size
- put someone in their place
- reduce
- relegate
- sink
- slur
- trim down to size
- whittle down to size
- denounce
- finger
- inculpate
- accuse
- blame
- cop out
- decry
- fault
- lay at someone's door
- lay on
- lay something at the feet of
- point the bone
- put it to
- put the blame on
- twit
- wite
- besmirch
Antonyms
Forms of defame
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | defames |
| present participle | defaming |
| past participle | defamed |
| past | defamed |
| Noun | |
| plural | defames |
Origin of defame
From Middle English defamen, from Anglo-Norman defamer (verb), defame (noun), and its source, Latin diffāmō, from fāma (“fame; rumour; reputation”).
Words formed from defame
Words that rhyme with defame
37 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- reclaim
- same
- blame
- declaim
- disclaim
- squame
- aflame
- came
- fame
- rame
- ashame
- became
- crame
- exclaim
- mechanical game
- misname
- overcame
- proclaim
- second name
- BAME
- by name
- cyberfame
- deadname
- enflame
- file names
- good game
- hame
- herostratic fame
- maim
- Markush claim
- reclame
- rename
- run game
- sejm
- succame
- two can play this game
- video game
Questions about defame
- What does defame mean?
- Defame means to disgrace; to bring into disrepute.
- What is defame in Urdu?
- Defame in Urdu is بدنام کرنا, بےعزت کرنا, بہتان باندھنا. See Defame meaning in Urdu.
- What part of speech is defame?
- Defame can be a verb, a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce defame?
- Defame is pronounced /dɪˈfeɪm/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of defame?
- The past tense of defame is defamed.
Words near defame in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: defame (page history and authors); defame (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); defame (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); defame (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-defame.wav.
Cite this entry: “defame.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/defame. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.