English Explanatory Dictionary

badmouth

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb

To criticize or malign, especially unfairly or spitefully.

Pronunciation

/ˈbæd.maʊθ/

Word forms

badmouth badmouths badmouthing badmouthed bad-mouth

Etymology

Calque of a Mande term, perhaps Vai [Term?] or Mandinka [Term?], which entered English via Gullah [Term?]. Compare Japanese 悪口(わるぐち) (waruguchi, “badmouthing”), which is a compound of 悪(わる) (waru, “bad, wicked”) and 口(くち) (kuchi, “mouth”).

Synonyms

censure reprove belittle denigrate admonish animadvert bash bawl out slash lash blame scorch blast berate berisp castigate charge chastise chew out chide condemn criticize denounce denunciate deprecate derogate dispraise drag dress down eat someone alive excoriate find fault fulminate get at get down get up give somebody a piece of one's mind give somebody what-for inveigh lace into lambaste lay into lecture light into objurgate pooh-pooh put someone on blast rate read somebody the riot act rebuke reprehend reprimand reproach rip into rubbish savage scold skewer slam slate

Derived words

badmouther

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.

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