Dictionary

character-assassinate en · VERB

Etymology

Back-formation from character assassination.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To damage the reputation of (someone) by malicious discourse.
   • Anything more ambitious than an interesting collar is wasted on a video call, and, anyway, no one is looking at you, they’re too busy character-assassinating you based on the bookshelves behind you. 2021 June 25, Jess Cartner-Morley, “How to dress for a return to the office”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 Jun 2021:
   • “He was murdered twice.” First he was targeted (while en route to testify to a grand jury) by mob hit men and shot in that stairwell. Then he was character-assassinated as the Arizona real estate crime wave drew intense scrutiny. 2009 November 16, Janet Maslin, “Desperately Seeking Dad: A Murder Mystery”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 22 Apr 2014:
   • Michelle Phillips is a writer who character-assassinates herself—and occasionally others—in passing. Reading her view of herself in the rear-view mirror is like witnessing that most casual of car accidents, so common on the California freeways, the side swipe. 1986 September 21, Julia Cameron, “Papa John by John Phillips with Jim Jerome […]; California Dreamin’ by Michelle Phillips […]”, in Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 08 Dec 2024:

Forms