Calumniated

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Wrongly charged with bad acts or intentions in a harmful and unjust way
2. Falsely blamed in a manner meant to damage reputation or credibility
3. Unjustly accused with harmful statements intended to defame or slander

Etymology: "Calumniated" is the past form of "calumniate," a verb that entered English in 1554 from the Latin "calumniari," meaning to accuse falsely or to quibble. The Latin verb was built from "calumnia," which carried a legal sense of trickery or a false charge brought in bad faith, and the English word kept that courtroom flavour: to calumniate someone is to lodge a malicious accusation against them, not merely to criticise. The word came into English by direct borrowing rather than through French, which is why it looks so much like its Latin source. Its ending, "-ate," is the common suffix that English took over from Latin to make verbs, the same one found in words like "frustrate" and "operate," so the form reveals it was a deliberate scholarly import from the Latin.

Synonyms: slandered, defamed, maligned, vilified, libeled

Antonyms: praised, defended, vindicated, supported, acclaimed