traduce

/trəˈdus/

/trəˈdus/

Other forms: traduced; traducing; traduces

To traduce is to badmouth someone or something. If you don't want people talking trash about you, then don't traduce them either — even if they started it.

Among cabaret performers, there is long tradition of traducing other performers — though at its heart, it's really a way of showing affection. Showing love by being mean: such is the strange world of camp. Of course, in order to know that a person is being funny when they traduce another person, you usually have to know them both pretty well. So if you're not either very familiar or very funny, avoid traducing other people for laughs: they're likely to think that you meant all those nasty things.

Definitions of traduce

1. verb

   speak unfavorably about
   synonyms: badmouth, drag through the mud, malign

   type of:

   asperse, besmirch, calumniate, defame, denigrate, slander, smear, smirch, sully

   charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone