IELTS TOEFL SAT GRE
外刊例句
- But threatening a libel claim against thousands of people at once is novel.
但以诽谤罪一次性恐吓上千人确实是闻所未闻。
——《经济学人》 - After its publication, that sort of harassment continued, he says — along with a major libel suit.
据他表示,该文发表后,这种骚扰就没有停止过,而且他还吃了一起重大诽谤官司。
——《纽约时报》
基本释义
[noun] a piece of writing that contains bad and false things about a person
[名词] (文字性的)诬蔑,诽谤,中伤
深入解读
英语单词libel来自拉丁语词根liber(书),原意是“小书、小册子”。
由于古代没有广播电视等通讯手段,权贵要人们相互攻击时只能通过散发传单、小册子等方式。大家通过小册子相互揭短,因此libel一词衍生出“控告、控诉书”之意,在法律领域表示原告的起诉书。由于这种小册子里所写的内容免不了夸大其词,甚至无中生有,因此libel一词又产生了“中伤、诽谤”之意,在法律领域表示“诽谤罪”。
值得注意的是,在英语中,“诽谤”分为“文字诽谤”和“口头诽谤”, 其中“口头诽谤”用slander表示,而“文字诽谤”则用libel表示。
影视用例
出自2002年美国超级英雄电影《蜘蛛侠》(Spider-Man)。该片在商业上大获成功,是第一部上映首周突破1亿美元票房的电影。
同近义词
- slander: a false spoken statement about someone that damages their reputation, or the making of such a statement
- defamation: the act of harming someone's reputation by saying or writing bad things about them
- calumny: (the act of making) a statement about someone that is not true and is intended to damage the reputation of that person