Word of the Week (WOW): Calumny

Posted on by Louise Bunting

wow

This post is in response to Heena Rathore P.’s Word of the Week (WOW). This weekly meme is a great way of improving your vocabulary.  If you wish to participate, simply create a post with your word and leave a link in a comment on Heena’s WOW post.

Here’s my WOW for this week:

calumny

Word
calumny

Plural
calumnies

Part of Speech
noun

Pronunciation
cal-um-nie  (kăl′əm-nē)

Meaning 

  1.  A false or malicious statement made to injure another’s reputation.
  2. The utterance of maliciously false statements; slander, misrepresentation, defamation

Synonyms

  1. abuse, aspersion, calumniation, defamation, derogation, detraction, disparagement, libel, malignment, obloquy, slander, smear, traducement, vilification
  2. attack, backbiting, defamation, denigration, slander, malignment, misrepresentation

Antonyms

acclaim, accolade, commendation, flattery, honour, praise,

Word Origin

From Middle English: ‘calumnie’, from Old French: ‘calomnie’, from Latin :’calumnia’, from ‘calví’ to deceive.

Use in a sentence

  1. The whispered tale was idle calumny, a malicious rumour without the slightest truth.
  2. His opponents sort to ruin him with vile calumny.

If you want to discover more great words then visit Heena’s page Word Treasure.

10 thoughts on “Word of the Week (WOW): Calumny”

  3. Great word… It is very used here in Argentina when it comes to Criminal Law… We talk of a “Juicio por calumnias e injurias” (Trial due to calumny and obloquy)~
    Best wishes! Aquileana 😀

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I’m glad you like it. 🙂 I don’t think its used enough in English, though not being knowledgeable in Law it could have a similar use in our legal system and I wouldn’t have the slightest clue!

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Will never forget this word since it’s almost the same as the Spanish version ‘calumnias’, which I learned in the Spanish novellas. Love it!!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I have a bit of a fascination with word etymology – the similarity of this word in the different languages illustrates its Latin origins. 🙂 I’m really glad you like it. It’s a word that’s not used enough in English.

      Liked by 1 person

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