cast aspersions

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

cast aspersions (third-person singular simple present casts aspersions, present participle casting aspersions, simple past and past participle cast aspersions)

1. (idiomatic) To make damaging or spiteful remarks.

   Don't cast aspersions on me, or on my patriotism.

   • 1911, Joseph Conrad, Under Western Eyes‎^[1]:

     “You are casting aspersions,” remonstrated Peter Ivanovitch, “which as far as you are concerned—” “No!” Razumov interrupted without heat. “Indeed, I don’t want to cast aspersions, but it’s just as well to have no illusions.” Peter Ivanovitch gave him an inscrutable glance of his dark spectacles, accompanied by a faint smile. “The man who says that he has no illusions has at least that one,” he said, in a very friendly tone.

   • 2014, Astra Taylor, chapter 2, in The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age, Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN:

     Dismissing stability as the refusal to innovate (or rather cut costs), business leaders cast aspersions on the steadying tenets of the first half of the twentieth century, including social provisions and job security.

Translations

make damaging or spiteful remarks

• Danish: bagvaske
• Dutch: met modder gooien naar
• Finnish: herjata (fi), panetella (fi)
• French: calomnier (fr), dire du mal (fr)
• German: verleumden (de), schmähen (de), diffamieren (de), schlechtreden (de)
• Maori: tīkai
• Persian: هتک حرمت
• Portuguese: sujar a imagem
• Spanish: calumniar (es), proferir improperios
• Swedish: förtala (sv), baktala (sv)