n. 25B6; noun she sued two newspapers for libel : DEFAMATION (OF CHARACTER), character assassination, calumny, misrepresentation, scandalmongering; aspersions, denigration, vilification, disparagement, derogation, insult, slander, malicious gossip, traducement; lie, slur, smear, untruth, false report; informal mud-slinging, bad-mouthing.
25B6; verb she alleged the magazine had libelled her : DEFAME, malign, slander, blacken someone's name, sully someone's reputation, speak ill/evil of, traduce, smear, cast aspersions on, drag someone's name through the mud/mire, besmirch, tarnish, taint, tell lies about, stain, vilify, denigrate, disparage, run down, stigmatize, discredit; N. Amer. slur; formal derogate, calumniate.