whispering campaign
2
7.4
- noun
- /ˈwɪspərɪŋ kæmˈpeɪn/
:
campaña de rumores
- During the contentious race, rumors spread quickly due to a whispering campaign orchestrated by rival candidates.
- start a whispering campaign
Examples
-
Second, the IRS has to maintain confidentiality; it has no basis to say that his published returns don't match, and the release of returns would probably be preceded by a whispering campaign saying that the IRS would probably say that they don't match just to harm Romney's campaign.
Blog text (11) -
Hopefully they aren't pursuing a whispering campaign against those they have on their little list.
Blog text (15) -
Have you ever heard of a whispering campaign?
-
The attack came in the form of a whispering campaign.
Fiction book (2000) -
I used TV as a metaphor only on account of my anger at the whispering campaign by the community against my brother and my family.
Fiction book (1991) -
They've started a whispering campaign.
-
White House officials then conducted a whispering campaign against Moynihan.
Academic text (2006) -
From that point on, whispering campaigns ensue and lies and rumors are spread about the employee, until those in power over the employee come to believe that the Wiccan employee should not be promoted or should even be fired.
Academic text (1997) -
They are, however, difficult to evaluate since they are often associated with malicious whispering campaigns against ecclesiastics who were unpopular or under suspicion for some other reason.
Academic text (2005) -
The politician faced a damaging whispering campaign aimed at tarnishing his reputation during the election.
Synonyms
16
5.5
An organized effort to hurt someone's reputation by making false or unfair accusations
15
7.3
Hurts someone's reputation on purpose by spreading false or harmful stories
9
4.8
Making unfair personal attacks to damage someone's reputation in politics
Spreading harmful gossip to hurt people or cause drama
Antonyms
How Aggressive
- Literature
15
7.3
16
5.5
2
7.4
- US
853
1.2
- Informal
184
1.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase directly combines 'whispering' (quiet/secret speech) with 'campaign' (an organized effort), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it refers to an organized, secret effort to spread messages—typically rumors—about someone. The negative, derogatory sense follows naturally from the secrecy implied by 'whispering' and this compositional logic is common cross-linguistically, making the expression predictable.
Etymology
The phrase whispering campaign comes from the image of people quietly whispering behind someone's back while acting together like a secret campaign. That's why it means 'an organized effort to spread damaging rumors to make someone look bad'.