These words mean to say or to write something, often misleading or false, that is damaging to a person or a group of people. Malign is the broadest word in the group in that the feelings which motivate a person who maligns another can range from the simple ill will which prompts a gossip to the bitter hatred or malicious ignorance which results in pernicious persecution: a lady author who has been much maligned because of her romantic indiscretions; a local shopkeeper so maligned by a competitor that he was forced to sell out and move elsewhere.

Asperse and vilify imply false accusations made in order to ruin someone’s reputation. Asperse , meaning literally to bespatter, often implies indirect or vague assertions made to reduce good repute. Vilify usually implies violent and direct abuse, such as the calling of names. One may asperse a writer’s integrity by suggesting indirectly that he has written lies, or vilify him directly by calling him a liar. Asperse , however, is extremely formal, and more commonly appears in the form of a plural noun: The writer accused the reviewer of casting aspersions on his work.

Defame can specifically indicate an attempt to destroy someone’s good name. Like vilify , the word suggests the use of direct and harsh accusations, but defame is less commonly used in this way than vilify . Recently, it has acquired a meaning that refers to unfounded, broadside denunciations of ethnic or religious groups: the myth of ritual murder that was repeatedly used to defame the Jewish minority in many European countries.

Libel and slander , in their most restricted sense, are legal terms pertaining to defamation, which is the act of maliciously making a false and disparaging statement about a person, and which is closely defined in the relevant statutes and laws. In exact terms, libel refers to permanently recorded (written or printed) statement, and slander to spoken ones. In popular usages, however, both words are applied to false accusations by any means.