slander

C2+ Topic:Communication

US /ˈslændər/ UK /ˈslɑːndə/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a false spoken statement that damages someone's reputation

He sued the columnist for slander after the broadcast.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a false spoken statement... defamationcalumny libel aspersion smearvilification

Opposites

praise compliment commendation

Word family

Forms slanderous

Derived forms slandererslanderous

Related forms scandal

Simplified etymology

Slander is historically related to scandal: both ultimately derive from Latin scandalum, “cause of offence,” from Greek skandalon, “snare” or “stumbling block.”

Etymology

From Anglo-French esclaundre, Old French esclandre ('scandalous statement'), an alteration of Latin scandalum ('cause of offense'), from Greek skandalon ('snare, stumbling block').

esclandre Old French scandalum la-ecc skandalon Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Communication Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# slander

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈslændər/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈslɑːndə/

## Meanings
1. a false spoken statement that damages someone's reputation

## Examples
- He sued the columnist for slander after the broadcast.

## Synonyms
- defamation
- calumny
- libel
- aspersion
- smear
- vilification

## Antonyms
- praise
- compliment
- commendation

## Derived Forms
- slanderer
- slanderous

## Related Forms
- scandal

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: esclandre
- Root: scandalum
- Root: skandalon

## Etymology
From Anglo-French esclaundre, Old French esclandre ('scandalous statement'), an alteration of Latin scandalum ('cause of offense'), from Greek skandalon ('snare, stumbling block').

## AI Etymology
Slander comes from Anglo-French esclaundre, Old French esclandre ('scandalous statement'), an alteration of Latin scandalum ('cause of offense'), from Greek skandalon ('snare, stumbling block'). The historical chain includes Old French esclandre, Latin scandalum, and Ancient Greek skandalon. Older glosses in the chain include "scandalous statement", "cause of offense", and "snare, stumbling block", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, slander is best read as borrowing, yielding an English noun and verb shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a noun and verb, with the sense "a false spoken statement that damages someone's reputation". English derivatives include slanderer and slanderous; related forms include scandal. The result is an English noun and verb whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Communication
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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