aspersion
definition
a damaging or derogatory remark or criticism
example
The politician faced widespread aspersions on his character after the scandal broke, despite his attempts to defend himself.
synonyms
slanderdisparagementdefamation
word origin — The word 'aspersion' comes from the Latin 'aspersio', meaning 'a sprinkling' or 'scattering', derived from 'aspergere', which means 'to sprinkle' or 'to bespatter'. This evolved to imply making damaging remarks.