As*perse" (&?;), v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Aspersed (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n.
Aspersing.] [L. aspersus, p. p. of aspergere to
scatter, sprinkle; ad + spargere to strew. See
Sparse.] 1. To sprinkle, as water or dust, upon
anybody or anything, or to besprinkle any one with a liquid or with
dust. Heywood.
2. To bespatter with foul reports or false and
injurious charges; to tarnish in point of reputation or good name; to
slander or calumniate; as, to asperse a poet or his writings; to
asperse a man's character.
With blackest crimes aspersed.
Cowper.
Syn. -- To slander; defame; detract from; calumniate; vilify. --
To Asperse, Defame, Slander, Calumniate. These
words have in common the idea of falsely assailing the character of
another. To asperse is figuratively to cast upon a character
hitherto unsullied the imputation of blemishes or faults which render it
offensive or loathsome. To defame is to detract from a man's honor
and reputation by charges calculated to load him with infamy.
Slander (etymologically the same as scandal) and
calumniate, from the Latin, have in common the sense of circulating
reports to a man's injury from unworthy or malicious motives. Men
asperse their neighbors by malignant insinuations; they
defame by advancing charges to blacken or sully their fair fame;
they slander or calumniate by spreading injurious reports
which are false, or by magnifying slight faults into serious errors or
crimes.
