How to Use libel in a Sentence

libel

1 of 2 noun
Definition of libelnext
Synonyms for libelnext
  • The newspaper was found guilty of libel.
  • He sued the newspaper for libel.
  • The newspaper's attorneys argued that the article was not a libel.
  • The libel case was part of a series of problems for Depp.
    — Sharareh Drury, Billboard, 16 Aug. 2021
  • The Times libeled Palin, so the Times deserves to lose her libel suit.
    — Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, 6 Feb. 2022
  • It's been 18 months since Depp lost his U.K. libel case.
    — Benjamin Vanhoose, PEOPLE.com, 1 June 2022
  • Sued for libel by the mayor’s 80-year-old niece, Profs.
    — Lawrence Douglas, WSJ, 7 Apr. 2021
  • The libel case filed by his half-brother is dismissed by the court.
    — CNN, 14 Feb. 2022
  • Depp and Heard took the stand in May over competing libel charges.
    — Amy Haneline, USA TODAY, 15 Dec. 2022
  • Johnny Depp lost a libel case against a British tabloid.
    — Ashley Shaffer, USA TODAY, 2 Nov. 2020
  • The actress’ plea to dismiss the suit after Depp lost his libel case in the U.K. was denied.
    — J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 9 Apr. 2022
  • The outing comes after Depp sued a British tabloid for libel.
    — Ale Russian, PEOPLE.com, 13 June 2018
  • In a public filing in England, he was sued for libel based on the dossier.
    — NBC News, 7 Jan. 2018
  • Correa sued them for libel, and both men were sentenced to 18 months in prison.
    — Diana Durán, Washington Post, 10 Aug. 2023
  • The loss of his libel case is a big blow to Depp and could cost him lucrative acting roles.
    — William Booth, Washington Post, 2 Nov. 2020
  • Her assets had been frozen as part of a libel case, one of 47 suits pending against her.
    — Nicholas Kulish, New York Times, 17 Apr. 2018
  • The site claimed that Kweli could’ve sued them for libel, but the statute of limitations had passed last year.
    — Vulture, 9 Aug. 2022
  • Doronin sued, alleging libel and defamation, and swaths of the ski town turned against him.
    — Chris Pomorski, Curbed, 17 Oct. 2022
  • Robertson sued for libel, but later dropped the suit and agreed to pay McCloskey’s court costs.
    — Rebecca Trounson, Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2023
  • His $50 million libel battle with Heard picked up in Virginia court the week of the film's release.
    — Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY, 19 Apr. 2022
  • Those claims amounted to slander and libel, the lawsuit says.
    — Dustin Gardiner, azcentral, 15 June 2018
  • The wives of two British soccer superstars are at the center of a libel case in London this month.
    — Emily Burack, Town & Country, 16 May 2022
  • The third friend, who is himself an ex-boyfriend of hers, sends a string of voice notes advising her about libel laws.
    — Hazlitt, 7 Feb. 2024
  • If this is correct, then the rapper would be liable for libel.
    — James Freeman, WSJ, 17 Mar. 2021
  • In the countersuit, Depp was found guilty of one charge of libel and Heard was awarded $2 million.
    — Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 27 July 2023
  • And since a libel case requires proof of falsity, their case was doomed.
    — Jack Greiner, Cincinnati.com, 22 June 2017
  • The couple wed in 1828, but a year later David was convicted of libel and spent six months in jail.
    — Brenda Wineapple, The New York Review of Books, 19 Oct. 2022
  • This is not unusual; in the US, libel, even for private figures, is hard to prove.
    — Michelle Cheng, Quartz, 7 June 2023
  • Some who post may be sued for defamation, libel, or slander.
    — Gloria Allred, Marie Claire, 6 Feb. 2018
  • Seven years later, the judge who had presided over the Kastner libel trial was one of the three judges in the trial of Adolf Eichmann.
    — Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2023
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libel

2 of 2 verb
  • The jury found that the article libeled him.
  • The courts ruled O’Brien had not libeled him and he was not entitled to $5 billion as a result.
    — vanityfair.com, 9 Feb. 2017
  • Just as the First Amendment’s protects free speech, but doesn’t give a license to people to libel others.
    — Andrés Oppenheimer, miamiherald, 26 Feb. 2018
  • Gibson’s Bakery filed a lawsuit against the college in 2017, claiming the school and an administrator there hurt their business and libeled them.
    — Jane Morice | [email protected], cleveland, 17 Nov. 2019
  • The two ultimately went to trial because Irving felt libeled that Lipstadt called him a Holocaust denier in her book.
    — Jennifer Wright, Harper's BAZAAR, 20 Mar. 2018
  • Actor James Woods thinks the trooper should sue anyone who libeled him while perpetuating the lie and media analyst Mark Dice agrees.
    — Brian Flood, Fox News, 25 May 2018
  • But then again, I and my family were not libeled as traitors, crooks, deviants, and imbeciles, and put in legal jeopardy for 22 months as the media and ex-Obama officials ginned up hoax after hoax.
    — Victor Davis Hanson, National Review, 27 Aug. 2019
  • Gross was threatened with the loss of his Polish state honors and prosecution for ostensibly libelling the nation.
    — Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2019
  • There’s no law against defaming, slandering or libeling the dead.
    — Danielle Bacher, Billboard, 3 Apr. 2019
  • The virtues of a free press come under attack in another scene, in which a woman dumps a bucket of excrement over the head of a local official, claiming that she has been libeled by a local newspaper.
    — Justin Chang, latimes.com, 11 May 2018
  • According to the Chronicle-Telegram, the court found that the college had libeled the bakery and its owners, in addition to inflicting emotional distress on the owners.
    — Washington Post, 10 June 2019
  • On top of causing emotional trauma, the suit claims, Goodlett's actions libeled the former students and damaged their reputations.
    — Matthew Glowicki, The Courier-Journal, 28 Sep. 2017
  • Jace Richter, 18, who was released from the football team after the allegations against him went public, also asserts that he was defamed, slandered, libeled and portrayed in a false light, according to the suit filed in early December.
    — Katy Moeller, idahostatesman, 20 Dec. 2017
  • The poll became public when it was submitted by Issa in an unsuccessful lawsuit alleging that Applegate attack ads libeled the incumbent.
    — Martin Wisckol, Orange County Register, 19 Mar. 2017
  • The attorney said the website libels Sibley, interferes with the recruitment of businesses and new residents, and negatively affects property rights.
    — USA TODAY, 8 Mar. 2018
  • Instead, the jury unanimously determined that Oberlin College libeled the Gibsons.
    — Brian Pascus, CBS News, 27 June 2019
  • Government officials, he observed, were public servants who remained accountable to the people and therefore could not be libeled for their performance in office.
    — Leonard W. Levy, Emergence of a Free Press, 1985
  • And in Oklahoma last year, lawyers filed a class-action suit against a group supporting tort reform, saying they had libeled trial lawyers.
    — Judith Miller, New York Times, 11 June 1996
  • The jury found that the article libeled him.
  • The courts ruled O’Brien had not libeled him and he was not entitled to $5 billion as a result.
    — vanityfair.com, 9 Feb. 2017
  • Just as the First Amendment’s protects free speech, but doesn’t give a license to people to libel others.
    — Andrés Oppenheimer, miamiherald, 26 Feb. 2018
  • Gibson’s Bakery filed a lawsuit against the college in 2017, claiming the school and an administrator there hurt their business and libeled them.
    — Jane Morice | [email protected], cleveland, 17 Nov. 2019
  • The two ultimately went to trial because Irving felt libeled that Lipstadt called him a Holocaust denier in her book.
    — Jennifer Wright, Harper's BAZAAR, 20 Mar. 2018
  • Actor James Woods thinks the trooper should sue anyone who libeled him while perpetuating the lie and media analyst Mark Dice agrees.
    — Brian Flood, Fox News, 25 May 2018
  • But then again, I and my family were not libeled as traitors, crooks, deviants, and imbeciles, and put in legal jeopardy for 22 months as the media and ex-Obama officials ginned up hoax after hoax.
    — Victor Davis Hanson, National Review, 27 Aug. 2019
  • Gross was threatened with the loss of his Polish state honors and prosecution for ostensibly libelling the nation.
    — Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2019
  • There’s no law against defaming, slandering or libeling the dead.
    — Danielle Bacher, Billboard, 3 Apr. 2019
  • The virtues of a free press come under attack in another scene, in which a woman dumps a bucket of excrement over the head of a local official, claiming that she has been libeled by a local newspaper.
    — Justin Chang, latimes.com, 11 May 2018
  • According to the Chronicle-Telegram, the court found that the college had libeled the bakery and its owners, in addition to inflicting emotional distress on the owners.
    — Washington Post, 10 June 2019
  • On top of causing emotional trauma, the suit claims, Goodlett's actions libeled the former students and damaged their reputations.
    — Matthew Glowicki, The Courier-Journal, 28 Sep. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'libel.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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