calumny

Calumny is technically the act of a person falsely accusing another person of a crime . However, the common definition of calumny means the act of maliciously (i.e. with the intent to do harm) misrepresenting someone’s conduct to harm that person’s reputation . In fact, this definition of calumny encompasses the tort of defamation . Defamation is any spoken or written words that are used to harm a person’s reputation. Written words used to harm a person’s reputation is libel , and spoken words used to harm a person’s reputation is slander .

[Last reviewed in June of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team ]

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