bad-mouth
or bad·mouth
[ bad-mouth or, sometimes, -mouth ]
/ ˈbædˌmaʊθ or, sometimes, -ˌmaʊð /
verb (used with object), bad-mouthed, bad-mouth·ing.
Slang.
to speak critically and often disloyally of; disparage: Why do you bad-mouth your family so much?
Origin of bad-mouth
1935–40; originally a curse, spell (the sense recorded in Gullah); compare Vai (Mande language of Liberia and Sierra Leone)
dà nyà mà curse, literally, bad mouth
OTHER WORDS FROM bad-mouth
bad-mouth·er, nounWords nearby bad-mouth
bad sort, a,
bad taste,
bad time,
bad trip,
bad trot,
bad-mouth,
bad-tempered,
bada-bing,
badajoz,
badakhshan,
badalona
British Dictionary definitions for bad mouth
bad-mouth
verb
(tr) slang
to speak unfavourably about
Idioms and Phrases with bad mouth
bad mouth
Disparage or criticize unduly, malign, as in Why do you constantly bad mouth your colleagues? This term is believed to be of African origin, where the phrase bad mouth signifies a curse or evil spell. [1930s]