Aspersion
noun ·3 syllables ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 An attack on somebody's reputation or good name, often in the phrase to cast aspersions upon….
"No criminality can be infered or punishment inflicted, but for writing, printing, uttering, or publishing false, scandalous and malicious aspersions against the government."
- 2 the act of sprinkling water in baptism (rare) wordnet
- 3 A sprinkling, especially of holy water. obsolete
"If thou dost break her virgin knot before All sanctimonious ceremonies may With full and holy rite be minister'd, No sweet aspersion shall the heavens let fall To make this contract grow; but barren hate […]"
- 4 an abusive attack on a person's character or good name wordnet
- 5 a disparaging remark wordnet
Example
More examples"No criminality can be infered or punishment inflicted, but for writing, printing, uttering, or publishing false, scandalous and malicious aspersions against the government."
Etymology
From Latin aspersiōnem, from aspersiō (“sprinkling”).
Related phrases
More for "aspersion"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.