Definition
A slanderer is a person who commits slander — that is, one who maliciously and without justification makes a false spoken statement that imputes a crime or fault to another person who is innocent of that charge. The term is agentive: it identifies the actor rather than the act. In legal usage, a slanderer is the defendant in a slander action, distinguished from the victim (the defamed party) and from a libelee, whose wrongdoing is committed in written or otherwise fixed form.
The term carries no independent substantive legal weight beyond identifying the party who has committed slander. Its significance lies in establishing who bears liability for the tortious act of oral defamation.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): One who slanders or defames the name or reputation of another person.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): One who slanders; a defamer; a calumniator.
In ordinary English, "slanderer" is used loosely to describe anyone who says something false or unfair about another — a schoolyard taunt, a petty rumor, an exaggerated slight. In legal usage, the term is more precise: the slanderer must have acted maliciously, without justification, and the statement must impute a crime or fault the subject did not commit. Not every careless or unkind false statement makes one a slanderer in the legal sense.
Common Confusion
SLANDERER vs. DEFAMER: "Defamer" is the broader category. Every slanderer is a defamer, but not every defamer is a slanderer. A defamer who communicates a false statement in writing or other fixed form is a libeler, not a slanderer. Researchers working in historical sources should pay attention to whether a source uses "defamer" generically or is distinguishing the oral/written form, as the distinction matters for what elements of proof apply and what damages are available.
SLANDERER vs. CALUMNIATOR: Historical dictionaries — particularly Bouvier's — use "calumniator" as a near-synonym. In modern American legal usage, "calumniator" is archaic. Researchers encountering it in older materials should treat it as equivalent to "slanderer" or "defamer" depending on context.
Why It Matters in Research
"Slanderer" is a person-term, not a cause-of-action term. It appears most frequently in older pleadings and treatises as a label for the defendant rather than in statutory or doctrinal analysis. Researchers should not expect "slanderer" to be a productive search term in modern case law or codes; "defendant in a slander action" or simply "slander" will surface more relevant material.
The historical definitions in the source dictionaries encode a specific doctrinal posture — malice and lack of justification — that reflects the common law understanding of defamation before New York Times v. Sullivan reshaped the fault standard for public figures and public officials. When reading historical materials that describe the slanderer as one who acts "maliciously," researchers should recognize that "malice" carried a common law presumption in slander cases that has since been substantially modified by constitutional doctrine. The slanderer's mental state, and what must be proven about it, varies significantly depending on the status of the plaintiff and the subject matter of the statement.
Jurisdictional variation in slander per se categories also affects how a "slanderer" is identified and what liability follows without proof of special damages. Some statements — imputing a crime, a loathsome disease, professional unfitness, or sexual misconduct — have historically been treated as slander per se, triggering presumed damages. Researchers working across jurisdictions or time periods will find inconsistency in which categories qualify.
Historical Dictionary Support
The three source dictionaries are in close agreement. Black's (both editions) and Bouvier's define the slanderer as one who acts maliciously and without reason to impute a crime or fault to an innocent person. Bouvier adds the synonym "calumniator," reflecting the Latin-influenced legal vocabulary of 19th-century American practice.
All three definitions embed the mental state (malice) and the falsity element (the subject is innocent) directly into the identity of the actor. This is useful as a doctrinal reminder: the slanderer is not merely someone who says something false, but someone who does so with the specific tortious character that generates legal liability.
What historical dictionaries miss: they do not address the post-Sullivan constitutional overlay, the distinction between public and private figures, or the actual malice standard. They also do not address slander per se or slander per quod as categories affecting proof and damages — analysis essential to any modern research on slander liability.
Jurisdictional Note
American slander law is uniformly shaped at its constitutional floor by First Amendment doctrine, but states vary considerably in how they define slander per se categories, what privileges apply, and whether retraction affects damages. Researchers should not assume that the malice standard in historical definitions maps onto the "actual malice" standard required under modern constitutional doctrine for public-figure plaintiffs.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
Defamation and Privacy Torts — Defamation — General Principles (Libel and Slander), The Law Mind Torts & Personal Injury Encyclopedia (torts_119)