What does slander mean?
Word: Slander
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Slander means a false spoken statement that is meant to harm someone's good name. It can also be a verb.
Antonyms: praise
Word origin: From Old French esclandre, 'scandal', from Latin scandalum.
How do you spell slander?
Syllables: slan - der
Tricky part: The ending is -der with an e, not -dar or -dre, and there is only one n.
Watch out for: slandar, slandre, slannder
Memory tip: A slander wanders from mouth to mouth, and slander ends -der, just like wander.
Slander in a sentence
Example 1: The film star laughed off the silly rumour and said it was slander.
Example 2: Grandpa says the best answer to slander is to keep doing good work.
Example 3: The cricket captain ignored the slander online and let his batting do the talking.
Fun Fact
Slander and scandal are cousins: both come from Latin scandalum, from a Greek word for a trap or a stumbling block.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Twins
Read the sentences and choose the correct option:
1. The tall, slender palm swayed gently in the breeze. 2. Spreading slender about a neighbour is unfair.
a) both
b) only 2
c) only 1
d) neither
Show answer
c) only 1. Slender means thin, which fits the palm; untrue talk about someone is slander, so sentence 2 is wrong.
Word Tally
How many words are misspelt in the given sentence?
In the old folk tale, an honest potter was hurt by slander, but the truth came out and the whole villige cheered for him.
a) 2
b) 3
c) 0
d) 1
Show answer
d) 1. Village has an a before the ge; every other word is correct.
Word Champ
Read the three statements and choose the correct option:
1. A rumour is always a proven fact. 2. Slander is a false spoken statement that harms someone's name. 3. Praise is words that show approval.
a) all three are true
b) only 1 is true
c) only 2 and 3 are true
d) only 1 and 2 are true
Show answer
c) only 2 and 3 are true. A rumour is a story that may or may not be true, so statement 1 is false.
Spell Spies
Choose the misspelt word/s in the given sentence:
Mr Rao calmly said the story about his sweets was slander, and he anounced that anyone could visit his kitchen.
a) slander and anounced
b) kitchen and anounced
c) only slander
d) only anounced
Show answer
d) only anounced. Announce has a double n, and announced keeps it.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Why is slander unfair?
a) it spreads untrue words that hurt someone's name
b) it praises someone more than they deserve
c) it uses words from a foreign language
d) it is spoken too softly to be heard
Show answer
a) it spreads untrue words that hurt someone's name
2. Slander is spoken. A false statement that is written or printed is called ___.
a) lyric
b) ledger
c) libel
d) label
Show answer
c) libel
