(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.
Libel
Definition:
(n.) A brief writing of any kind, esp. a declaration, bill, certificate, request, supplication, etc.
(n.) Any defamatory writing; a lampoon; a satire.
(n.) A malicious publication expressed either in print or in writing, or by pictures, effigies, or other signs, tending to expose another to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule. Such publication is indictable at common law.
(n.) The crime of issuing a malicious defamatory publication.
(n.) A written declaration or statement by the plaintiff of his cause of action, and of the relief he seeks.
(v. t.) To defame, or expose to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule, by a writing, picture, sign, etc.; to lampoon.
(v. t.) To proceed against by filing a libel, particularly against a ship or goods.
(v. i.) To spread defamation, written or printed; -- with against.
Example Sentences:
(1) Brett added companies should have to prove some financial damage – or the potential of financial damage – before they are allowed to launch a libel case.
(2) First, there are major vested interests, such as large corporations, foreign billionaires and libel lawyers, who will attempt to scupper reform.
(3) "In recent years, though, the increased threat of costly libel actions has begun to have a chilling effect on scientific and academic debate and investigative journalism."
(4) Aside from the fact that it is intemperate and inaccurate, it is also libelous.
(5) And there are plenty who think that, as our libel laws are cleaned up, smart lawyers are switching horses to privacy.
(6) The case, which had been going on for four years, became a cause celebre, one of a number that were used to spearhead a campaign for change to the libel laws by campaigners for freedom of speech.
(7) He stressed that the sister-in-law and her husband were not only accused of circulating libellously untrue stories but also of harassment of the wealthy financier.
(8) Polonsky is hoping to sue Lebedev for libel and is seeking damages for defamation, his lawyer Andrew Stephenson has said.
(9) Thousands who have confronted the possibility of a libel action have self-censored or backed down.
(10) He added that London remained the "libel capital of the world – the place where the rich and dodgy flock to keep their reputations intact".
(11) Newspapers have been lobbying hard to stave off a Leveson law of any kind, arguing that the press is already subject to laws ranging from libel to data protection and computer misuse acts to guard against illegal activities.
(12) Instead, NMT sued Wilmshurst in London, which has become the libel capital of the world.
(13) Priority has been given to applying sticking-plasters to libel law when urgent surgery is needed to regulate a tabloid newspaper industry that has been shown to have no regard for privacy or the criminal law.
(14) But Miller, in continuing to urge publishers to be "recognised" by the charter did refer to the "incentives", meaning a protection from the payment of legal costs for libel claimants (even if unsuccessful) and the imposition of exemplary damages (which would be very doubtful anyway).
(15) The inquiry originally looked as if it would be confined to the issue of "libel tourism", but it seems officials believed it would not be possible to restrict the inquiry in this way.
(16) His charge sheet includes numerous assaults (one against a waiter who served him the wrong dish of artichokes); jail time for libelling a fellow painter, Giovanni Baglione, by posting poems around Rome accusing him of plagiarism and calling him Giovanni Coglione (“Johnny Bollocks”); affray (a police report records Caravaggio’s response when asked how he came by a wound: “I wounded myself with my own sword when I fell down these stairs.
(17) The former Conservative chief whip Andrew Mitchell was a Jekyll and Hyde character who employed a mixture of charm and menace, his libel trial against the Sun newspaper over the Plebgate affair heard.
(18) In a letter to Hodge on Tuesday, Duncan also claimed that Hodge, the MP for Barking, had made “undoubtedly libellous assertions” about the tax affairs of the bank’s chief executive Stuart Gulliver.
(19) The libel laws have been long been considered to restrict free speech.
(20) What about the chilling effects of libel tourism and a system that both adds cost to stories and stifles freedom of expression?