malign: suggests a specific and often subtle misinterpretation but may not always imply deliberate lying: the most ~ monarch in British history.

traduce: stresses the resulting ignominy and distress to the victim: so ~d the governor that he was driven from office.     (ignominy身败名裂、耻辱: ig表没有，nom表名字，字面意思失去名字，注意不要写成ignomity)

asperse: implies a continued attack on a reputation often by indirect or insinuated detraction: each candidate ~ the other's motives.  (detract批评: de向下，tract拉牵引，字面意思向下拉)

vilify: implies an attempting to destroy a reputation by open and direct abuse: no president was more ~ by the press.

caluminate: imputes malice to the speaker and falsity to his or her assertion: threatened with a lawsuit for publicly ~ing the company.

defame: stresses the actual loss of or injury to a good name: forced to pay a substantial sum for ~ing her reputation.

slander: stresses the suffering of the victim from oral OR written calumniation: town gossips carelessly ~ed their good name.

libel: implies the printing or writing and publication or circulation of something that defames a person or his or her reputation: sued the magazine for ~.

malign说坏话: 常表示隐晦的曲解，但未必故意欺骗，traduce诋毁: 强调造成的耻辱和痛苦，aspersion侧面攻击: 表示间接侧面的批评和攻击， vilify公开辱骂: 表示直接公开的辱骂，calumniate诽谤: 既表示说话人恶意也表示说的话虚假，defame诽谤: 强调实际损坏或丧失好名声，slander诽谤: 口头或书面诽谤(calumniate)，libel书面诽谤: 书面诽谤，指通过印刷写作出版流通而进行的诽谤。

记忆方法:  1）首字母MTAVCDSL前4个字母想成A MTV，后4个想成Chu Da Shi Le出大事了<==被控告诽谤

                2）诽谤的意思是通过说坏话伤害mean to injure by speaking ill of. 首字母MTAVCDSL前4个字母想成A MTV，后4个想成Chu Da Shi Le出大事了<==被控告诽谤