What's the difference between defame and downgrade?

Defame


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To harm or destroy the good fame or reputation of; to disgrace; especially, to speak evil of maliciously; to dishonor by slanderous reports; to calumniate; to asperse.
  • (v. t.) To render infamous; to bring into disrepute.
  • (v. t.) To charge; to accuse.
  • (n.) Dishonor.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Abe Foxman, director of the Anti-Defamation League, a vigorous defender of Israel, called the speech “ill-advised”.
  • (2) Equally, Whittingdale pointed out that the Irish defamation act 2009 allows the courts to take account of whether a journalist has adhered to the Irish Press Council's code.
  • (3) They have denied the allegations and have filed a criminal complaint accusing the magazine of defamation.
  • (4) Her parents, Apiruj and Wanthanee Suwadee, were found guilty of violating Article 112 of Thailand’s criminal code which says anyone who “defames, insults or threatens the king, the queen, the heir-apparent or the regent” will be punished with up to 15 years in prison.
  • (5) They may be considered blasphemous by some, but banning speech based on criticism or so-called defamation of religion is incompatible with international human rights standards.
  • (6) Polonsky is hoping to sue Lebedev for libel and is seeking damages for defamation, his lawyer Andrew Stephenson has said.
  • (7) "The government has already published consultations on multiple publications on the internet and controlling costs in defamation."
  • (8) Tugendhat also stated that "in the language of defamation, the information would be capable of lowering [Terry] in the estimation of right-thinking members of society generally".
  • (9) According to the New York Times , he told its reporter Emily Steel that if he did not approve of her resulting article “I’m coming after you with everything I have,” adding: “You can take it as a threat.” The 65-year-old anchor – who earlier dismissed the Mother Jones article as “total bullshit”, “disgusting”, “defamation” and “a piece of garbage” – had promised that the archive tapes would comprehensively disprove the charges against him.
  • (10) The comedian has been fined several times for defamation, using insulting language, hate speech and racial discrimination.
  • (11) "When I complained to the police and law enforcement of Somalia, they arrested me and defamed me.
  • (12) These include Atena Farghadani, 28, an artist who was placed in solitary confinement in Iran for posting a cartoon on Facebook criticising a government bill to limit family planning services, and Gladys Lanza , who was convicted of defamation in Honduras when she spoke in defence of a woman who had accused a government official of sexual harassment.
  • (13) Ferrero: “I meant no disrespect to Mr Thohir, Inter’s directors or the people of the Philippines – with whom I have a wonderful rapport.” Legal news Croatia: Dinamo Zagreb president Zdravko Mamic fined €17,000 for defaming lawyer Ivica Crnic during a 2013 tribunal.
  • (14) "It is almost as dan­ger­ous to be an ABT mem­ber as it is to encounter one," the Anti-Defamation League study says.
  • (15) In fact, this has been all about defamation and manipulation of history, not prosecution.
  • (16) They are also likely to consider amendments that would boost fines for defamation.
  • (17) Thanks to sifting by the Defamer blog , the emails reveal the arguments began back in February, after Angelina Jolie wanted Fincher to direct her in Cleopatra, rather than take on the Jobs film.
  • (18) Foreign officials Mossack Fonseca appears to still act for Hunt’s company, despite a high-profile libel case in which the high court threw out Hunt’s defamation suit against the Sunday Times.
  • (19) In Bangladesh, defaming a religion on the internet can carry a 10-year jail sentence.
  • (20) For the sake of clarity it is worth pointing out that "the rich" Lord Lester is referring to are the rich who complain of being defamed, not the rich newspaper proprietors.

Downgrade


Definition:

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The criticism over the downgrading of the leader of the Lords was led by Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, a former Scotland secretary, who is a respected figure on the right.
  • (2) In the UK, George Osborne used this to his advantage, claiming "Britain faces the disaster of having its international credit rating downgraded" even after Moody's ranked UK debt as "resilient".
  • (3) Markets reacted calmly on Friday to the downgrade by Moody's of 16 European and US banks, with share prices steady after the reduction in credit ratings, which can push up the cost of borrowing for banks which they could pass on to customers.
  • (4) IPCC found a Gwent police control room operation had downgraded a call relating to her despite police knowing she was trying to escape a violent partner.
  • (5) Christine Lagarde, the IMF’s managing director, has made it plain that another downgrade is anticipated when the Washington-based organisation publishes its World Economic Outlook next week.
  • (6) A second recession hard on the heels of the first gives the (accurate) impression that the economy is a disaster area and makes a downgrade more likely.
  • (7) Results indicated a fairly pervasive tendency for the female subjects to upgrade successful males in relation to unsuccessful males but to downgrade successful females in relation to unsuccessful females.
  • (8) 8.44am GMT Today's schedule Here's some of the day's key events: • UK trade figures 9.30 GMT • Greece industrial production10.00 GMT • US non-farm payrolls 1.30 GMT We've already had French industrial production, which is not exactly positive in the wake of the S&P downgrade.
  • (9) Russia’s credit rating has been downgraded to junk status for the first time in a decade due to the collapsing oil price, the tumbling value of the rouble and sanctions imposed because of its intervention in Ukraine.
  • (10) And when S&P downgraded the US long-term credit rating from AAA to AA+, it was doing so for some sound reasons – because of the appalling immaturity of the Republican Tea Partiers in their negotiations over the debt ceiling.
  • (11) It is reluctantly forced to strip the UK of its treasured AAA rating when the government's growth forecasts have faced repeated downgrades and the upturn is out of sight.
  • (12) Moody's isn't catching up with shaky peripheral nations but pre-empting a credit downgrade of the EU's strongest core members.
  • (13) Reports of clinical observations suggest that the prognosis of teeth with minimal interradicular width should be downgraded in periodontal patients.
  • (14) More powerful regional allies, such as the UAE, may be displeased and downgraded ties by recalling ambassadors, but calculated that they didn’t want to break off ties with Tehran entirely.
  • (15) "The downgrade of the UK's sovereign ratings primarily reflects a weaker economic and fiscal outlook and hence the upward revision to Fitch's medium-term projections for UK budget deficits and government debt," it said.
  • (16) The downgrading in late 2013 of what had been a fully fledged A&E unit at Chase Farm to an urgent care centre, despite a huge campaign of opposition, led to a 20% increase in the number of sick people seeking treatment at the North Middlesex.
  • (17) The downgrade followed a week of fighting in Ukraine that appeared to undermine a brand-new truce negotiated between the leaders of Russia, Germany, France, Ukraine and the pro-Moscow rebels.
  • (18) The state of emergency was cancelled just after dawn when the tsunami risk was downgraded.
  • (19) BP credit rating downgraded after Tony Hayward's grilling by Congress 19 June One of BP's partners, Anadarko Petroleum, refuses to accept any responsibility for the Deepwater Horizon explosion despite owning a quarter of the well.
  • (20) • The following correction was published on 5 February 2012: "Downgrades, debt and junk: key questions about the eurozone crisis answered" (Business), said: "The [Eurozone financial stability facility] fund has already committed large sums to Greece, Ireland and Portugal and will need to raise more money should Italy and Spain need the same kind of help."