Definition of "calumniate"

calumniate

/kəˈlʌmni.eɪt/

verb
third-person singular simple present calumniates, present participle calumniating, simple past and past participle calumniated
1. (transitive) To make hurtful untrue comments about.
  Quotations
  Hatred unto the truth did always falsely report and calumniate all godly men's doings.
  a. 1555, John Hooper, A Brief Treatise respecting Judge Hales
  I missed her when she was not on the stage, in spite of the absorbing interest of that most calumniated and ill-used person, the Jew. (Speaking of Fanny Kemble as Portia)
  1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIX, in Romance and Reality. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], page 229
  There are adherents of each of the four French parties—Legitimists, Orleanists, Imperialists, and Republicans—in this little mountain-town; and they all hate, loathe, decry, and calumniate each other.
  1905, Robert Louis Stevenson, “chapter 1”, in Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes
2. (transitive) To levy a false charge against, especially of a vague offense, with the intent to damage someone's reputation or standing.