Word.ws English Dictionary

name calling

name calling is the alternative form of name-calling.

name calling is the present participle and gerund of name call.

Meaning of name-calling

Noun

name-calling (countable and uncountable, plural name-callings)

  1. The use of derogatory labels in verbal attacks on a person or other entity.
    • So inflammatory were the words of some preachers during these trying years that a resolution to silence, by mayoral proclamation, a continuation of name-calling from the pulpit was presented to the city council by one would-be pacifier.1940, Bessie Louise Pierce, A History of Chicago, volume 2, page 389

Forms of name calling

pluralname callings

Questions about name calling

What is name calling the alternative form of?
Name calling is the alternative form of name-calling.

Words near name calling in the dictionary

  1. name boards
  2. name brand
  3. name brands
  4. name call
  5. name called
  6. name calling
  7. name callings
  8. name calls
  9. name card
  10. name cards
  11. name change

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: name calling (page history and authors); name-calling (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.

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Cite this entry: “name calling.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/name_calling. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.