besmirch vs traduce

besmirch and traduce both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
besmirch	No	No	Yes	No
traduce	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, traduce is a hyponym of besmirch; that is, traduce is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than besmirch:

besmirch: charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone
traduce: speak unfavorably about

Other hyponyms of besmirch include assassinate, libel, badmouth, drag through the mud, malign.

besmirch (verb)	traduce (verb)
charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone	speak unfavorably about
smear so as to make dirty or stained