A calumny is a lie about a person told to ruin their character. It is also the name of the act of lying about someone. It is synonymous with slander. Though when someone is falsely accused of a crime, calumny is a more appropriate word.
Its plural is calumnies. It also makes the adjective calumnious, the adverb caluminously, and the verb caluminate. The verb form appears as caluminated and calumniating, and makes the noun calumniation. One can also be a caluminator.
Examples
The Head of Muslims in Nigeria and the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar has called on Nigerian politicians to stop the campaign of calumny against opponents ahead of the 2015 general elections. [Star Africa]
And then there is Haneen Zoabi, the traitorous MK from the Balad gang. The Jew-baiting, terror-boat-riding Mouth That Roared has made a career of spreading the most vile and vicious calumnies against Israel. [Jerusalem Post]
Trierweiler took to Twitter this week to publish a photo of herself dancing wildly at a party at a Paris gay bar, stating that “calumnious” rumours – that she scratched and pulled the hair of the Mr Sapin’s ex-wife – were “astonishing”. [The Telegraph]
I commend this record to those who are dealing so critically and so caluminously with the record of Mr. BELL on the same subject. [New York Times]
While Napoleon is calumniated for laying waste to Palestine as he retreated, Wellington did the same in Portugal during his withdrawal to the fortified lines of Torres Vedras. [Wall Street Journal]
What has been the state of mind of the CHRAJ boss now that she has become the subject of this decibel clatter of condemnation and utter calumniation? [Ghana Web]