libelous

English

Alternative forms

• libellous (UK)

Etymology

Etymology tree

English libel

Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed-

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *h₃édosder.?

Proto-Italic *-ō̆tsos?

Old Latin -ōssus

Latin -ōsus

Old French -usbor.

Middle English -ous

English -ous

English libelous

From libel + -ous.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪ.bəl.əs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

libelous (comparative more libelous, superlative most libelous) (American spelling)

1. Defamatory, libeling, referring to something that causes harm to someone's reputation especially with malice or disregard.

   The accusation was libelous, full of falsehoods, spite and malice.

2. Meeting the legal standards for libel.

   The court found the statement was not libelous because it was true.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:defamatory

Derived terms

• libelously

Translations

defamatory, libeling

• Bulgarian: клеветнически (bg) (klevetničeski)
• Dutch: lasterlijk (nl)
• Finnish: loukkaava (fi)
• French: diffamatoire (fr), calomnieux (fr)
• German: verleumderisch (de)
• Italian: diffamatorio (it)
• Polish: oszczerczy (pl)
• Russian: клеветни́ческий (ru) (klevetníčeskij)
• Spanish: difamatorio, calumnioso

meeting the legal standards for libel

• Finnish: herjaava (fi), kunniaa loukkaava
• French: diffamatoire (fr)
• German: verleumderisch (de)
• Russian: клеветни́ческий (ru) (klevetníčeskij)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} utuživo