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Glite Dictionary
libelously

libelously

1 9.0
In a way that makes false written statements to harm a person's reputation
  • adverb
  • /ˈlaɪbələsli/
  • US
: difamatoriamente
  • She wrote a post on her blog that libelously accused her former colleague of fraud.

Examples

  • The article libelously claimed that the famous actor was involved in illegal activities.

  • And he saw fit to not only blow off the hearing, but to instead attend a press conference so he could falsely and libelously attack Ambassador Susan Rice and President Obama.

    Blog text (20)

  • The tabloid magazine published stories that libelously misrepresented the celebrity's personal life.

Synonyms

scurrilously
vslibelously
  • Offensive
1 9.9

In a way that says very bad and untrue things about someone

is about false damaging statements in writing rather than crude abuse
slanderously
vslibelously
1 8.2

In a way that says false things to hurt someone's reputation

is specifically about false damaging statements made in writing
calumniously
vslibelously
  • Formal
9.9

In a way that says false things to harm someone's reputation

is about false damaging statements written rather than focusing on intent

Antonyms

truthfully
82 2.3

To tell what really happened without lying or hiding anything

How Defamatory

slanderously
1 8.2
libelously
  • US
1 9.0
accusingly
3 4.4
harmlessly
8 2.3

Surface Forms

libelously positive

Morphology

libelously = libelous (transparent) = libel + ous + ly

Regular adverbial formation from the adjective 'libelous' (libel + -ous) by adding the productive suffix '-ly', so the meaning is predictable from the base.

Etymology

Libelously comes from libel, which goes back to the Latin libellus meaning 'little book'. A 'libel' was a small written attack on someone's reputation, so to act libelously is to write in a way that 'harms by false writing'.