(n.) A sprinkling, as with water or dust, in a literal sense.
(n.) The spreading of calumniations reports or charges which tarnish reputation, like the bespattering of a body with foul water; calumny.
Example Sentences:
(1) He could face a charge if it is viewed that he is casting aspersions about match officials' fairness.
(2) Until I answer that question satisfactorily, I will not cast aspersions on others."
(3) And anything casting aspersions on China's rulers, history, military, human rights record – or any other aspect of the country – is out of the question .
(4) Governor Rick Perry said in a statement: This end run around the supreme court undermines the will of the people of Texas, and casts unfair aspersions on our state's common-sense efforts to preserve the integrity of our elections process.
(5) For aspersions to be cast about her alleged financial mismanagement and bullying shows a lack of respect to a woman who has committed almost 20 years to developing Kids Company.
(6) People are always going to cast aspersions on people regardless of their activities if they’re in a place under a government that’s unpopular.
(7) What do you have in common with all these very rich people?” Cameron replied: “The aspersion you are trying to cast is completely ridiculous.” He conceded that he had not asked Green about possible tax avoidance in HSBC’s Swiss branch at the time of his appointment.
(8) Duncan said she was not casting aspersions on the standard of the designs by Heatherwick.
(9) Her dogged pursuit of the then tax commissioner, Trevor Boucher, during a Senate committee, including vague aspersions on his new role as ambassador to the OECD, led to his resignation in 1993.
(10) "A contemptuous aspersion against a senior military officer"!
(11) I know some people (men) will feel obliged to cast aspersions on my looks – believe me, I've heard it all before – but I won't apologise for the truth.
(12) But he wasn't scraping the bottom of the anecdotal barrel for Grandma Dunham's subtle aspersions, he was actually making a representative claim: much as Reverend Wright is an appropriate spokesman for a certain strain of black racism, Madelyn Dunham is the face for that of most whites.
(13) You could practically hear Bashir crisply and obediently saluting as he accused Hardin of the crime of disrespect to a general; here is just some of what he shouted, literally, each time Hardin tried to move on: "I'm sorry, I cannot allow you to cast such a contemptuous aspersion against a senior military officer by demeaning his service to this country.
(14) It is wasteful to cast aspersions on Jessie J's desires and quantify her sexuality into a sort of swingometer.
(15) Setting aside the aspersions this casts on one of the most challenging jobs in our society, a Coalition government of all governments knows that money matters, especially in education.
(16) Beijing’s aspersions about sinister western forces aside, no one group is directing this occupation.
(17) Anyway, having cast aspersions over a tragic death, doubted a coroner and insulted a grieving mother, Moir's piece builds to its climax: "Another real sadness about Gately's death is that it strikes another blow to the happy-ever-after myth of civil partnerships.
(18) Claiming to have renewed his faith in Islam, he said he did not agree with any character in The Satanic Verses who "casts aspersions... upon the authenticity of the holy Qur'an, or who rejects the divinity of Allah".
(19) are presumably confident enough to survive this mild aspersion without resort to racial violence.
(20) In its statement to the media after the allegations were published, the Cain campaign said Cain was being "targeted by liberals simply because they disagree with his politics": Dredging up thinly sourced allegations stemming from Mr Cain's tenure as the chief executive officer at the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s, political trade press are now casting aspersions on his character and spreading rumours that never stood up to the facts.
Besmirch
Definition:
(v. t.) To smirch or soil; to discolor; to obscure. Hence: To dishonor; to sully.
Example Sentences:
(1) An attempt by George Osborne to besmirch the reputation of Ed Balls by linking him directly to the Libor-fixing scandal lay in tatters on Monday night after the Bank of England cleared the shadow chancellor .
(2) The two further charges allege that he lied in September 2012, after the publication of the Hillsborough independent panel report, when he issued press releases saying he had never suggested Liverpool supporters’ behaviour caused the disaster, and had never “besmirched” supporters.
(3) He accused McCain and Graham of besmirching Rice and that her statements about Benghazi had been made with the backing of the White House.
(4) "I'm not willing to let my father's good name be besmirched and undermined in the way that the Daily Mail are doing.
(5) The ongoing orchestrated effort by the Abbott government to besmirch Professor Triggs is a shameful attempt to divert attention away from the important findings and recommendations in her report,” Marles said in a statement.
(6) Impatient with criticism from Jewish leaders, a Jobbik MEP, Krisztina Morvai, said she'd prefer "those who call themselves proud Hungarian Jews played in their leisure with their tiny circumcised dicks, instead of besmirching me".
(7) As a fugitive paedophile, Polanski had no good name to besmirch, particularly when the alleged besmirching consisted of the accusation that he was a groper.
(8) The Labour leader said the newspaper had overstepped the boundaries of civilised debate by deliberately "besmirching and undermining" his father, a Marxist academic who died in 1994.
(9) This American import has not only besmirched the concept of welfare, but also displaced the term "social security".
(10) To those who have discarded all principles, save that of profit before all else; to those who have turned their backs on the very idea of a truly democratic society, and aligned themselves to nothing but self-interest; to those who have betrayed the vision of equality, and justice, and compassion for all – that vision that provided the crucible from which came forth the National Health Service – I say to you, as Aneurin Bevan said in Trafalgar Square in 1956: you have besmirched the name of Britain; you have made us ashamed of the things of which formerly we were proud; you have offended against every principle of decency and there is only way in which you can even begin to restore your tarnished reputation.
(11) It couldn't be farther from the current image of Allen as a besieged and besmirched individual.
(12) The video has emerged as the defence minister, David Johnston, pushes for an inquiry into the ABC for “besmirching” the navy’s reputation.
(13) While he will now become deputy prime minister by virtue of being the crown prince, there is little in his record to suggest new thinking on the human and civil rights failings, including women’s rights and capital punishment, that continue to besmirch the country’s reputation.
(14) I felt a sudden, instinctive lurch – the thought of my phiz besmirching every hairdresser's salon and dentist's waiting room.
(15) A long exposure on Channel 4 news with the Ukip donor, Demetri Marchessini sought to besmirch the party with guilt by association.
(16) More to the point, libel is meant to protect men and women of good character from having their reputations besmirched.
(17) If you do anything, don’t besmirch the good hearts and the good values of the tens of thousands, the millions of Donald Trump supporters.” Arizona voting She clarified that she did not condone the Phoenix supporter’s language: “I think what he had to say was disgusting.” Trump has blamed “the dishonest media”, sometimes singling out reporters by name, for his recent collapse in the polls, and reporters have been subjected to jeers and even threats .
(18) Britain's ambassador reiterated the point that "peaceful activists do not have the means … to shoot down Ukrainian military helicopters," and France's ambassador asked "What right do we have to interfere in affairs of besmirched state trying to recover its sovereignty?"
(19) Conversely, the part-time mammographer, although not necessarily besmirching his professional competence, will tend to give the examination a bad reputation by unnecessary hedges and reporting uncertainties characterized by long winded reports.
(20) An attack, let’s not forget, that appears to have no qualms about drawing attention to itself … but carelessly forgets to use the opportunity to praise North Korea’s supreme leader or call for the movie besmirching his image to be withdrawn.” There are further inconsistencies with previous North Korean hacking attempts.