character assassination
15
7.3
- noun
- /ˈkærɪktər ˌæsəˈsɪneɪʃən/
- Literature
:
difamación
- The social media campaign turned into a character assassination, spreading false rumors about her personal life.
- campaign of character assassination
- engage in character assassination
- vicious character assassination
But first we begin with the character assassination of JD Vance.
- But first we begin with the character assassination of JD Vance.
- And in my case, it was, you know, that kind of smear, character assassination, mockery, minimizing.
- Calling out toxic patterns is not a character assassination.
- But if you do a character assassination, you smear the cause with the person and the cause goes down, not up.
Examples
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But if you do a character assassination, you smear the cause with the person and the cause goes down, not up.
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The historical basis is based on a character assassination of Margaret Sanger, the founder of the organization.
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Are we in the union business or the character assassination business?
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But this election is not about social issues, and the character assassination has already shot way past desperate.
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The Nazis were also into the whole art of influence warfare and character assassination.
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We need to eschew personal attacks and character assassination and move forward together positively.
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Anyone else getting a bit weary of the public accusations and character assassinations going on these days?
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Swift boaters may be more to blame; the character assassination of Kerry was a big part of it.
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Christie said the contracts were awarded on merit and accused Corzine of "character assassination" for raising the issue.
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Every four years, Americans commit regicide with slow-drip character assassinations and months-long misinformation.
Blog text (23)
Synonyms
40
7.1
To harm someone's reputation by saying untrue things about them in public
21
7.0
Trying to damage someone's reputation with false or harmful statements
16
5.5
An organized effort to hurt someone's reputation by making false or unfair accusations
6
8.4
Saying or writing very harsh and unfair things about someone to damage their reputation
5
8.4
A written or spoken attack that unfairly hurts someone's reputation
5
8.4
Unfair criticism that makes someone or their work seem bad
4
9.3
A false statement that damages someone's reputation
2
7.4
Organized effort to spread secret bad rumors to make people think badly of someone
1
8.6
A remark or action that unfairly harms someone's reputation
Harmful false statements about someone that damage their reputation
Telling lies about someone to harm what people think of them
An attempt to damage someone's reputation by making false claims
Full of unfair personal attacks meant to damage someone's reputation
Damage to a person's good name by saying untrue things
A comment or action that makes someone feel unimportant
Antonyms
How Damaging
- Literature
15
7.3
16
5.5
- Specialized
44
6.6
394
3.1
- Offensive
313
1.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound maps the literal sense of 'assassination' (a planned killing) onto 'character' (a person's reputation), so a learner who knows both words can usually infer the general idea of "killing" someone's reputation — i.e. deliberately damaging it. However, this is a metaphorical extension rather than a purely compositional construction and carries pragmatic nuance (deliberate campaign, false/misleading claims) that may not be fully predictable to a B1 learner, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Character assassination paints a strong image: it treats a person's character as if it suffered assassination, 'to kill' their public image with words. So it now means trying on purpose to 'damage someone's reputation' by spreading lies or bad stories.