badmouth

See also: bad-mouth

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From a Mande term, perhaps Vai [Term?][1] or Mandinka [Term?],[2] which entered English via Gullah [Term?].[3]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbæd.maʊθ/

Verb

badmouth (third-person singular simple present badmouths, present participle badmouthing, simple past and past participle badmouthed)

  1. (informal) To criticize or malign, especially unfairly or spitefully.

Translations

References

  1. badmouth” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
  2. Smitherman, Geneva (1977), Talkin and Testifyin: The Language of Black America (Boston: Houghton Mifflin)
  3. The Atlantic World, 1450-2000 (2008, →ISBN, page 58
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