badmouth
/ˈbæd.maʊθ/ verb
Forms badmouths badmouthing badmouthed bad-mouth
- verb (informal, transitive) To criticize or malign, especially unfairly or spitefully.
Synonyms
censure reprove belittle denigrate admonish animadvert bash bawl out tilt cannonade slash lash blame scorch blast berate berisp castigate charge chastise malign traduce drag through the mud
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”).
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “badmouth”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details