libelous vs defamatory

libelous and defamatory both are adjectives.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
libelous	No	Yes	No	No
defamatory	No	Yes	No	No

As adjectives, libelous and defamatory are synonyms defined as:

libelous and defamatory: (used of statements) harmful and often untrue; tending to discredit or malign

Other synonyms of libelous include calumniatory, calumnious, denigrating, denigrative, denigratory, libellous, slanderous.

libelous (adjective)	defamatory (adjective)
(used of statements) harmful and often untrue; tending to discredit or malign	(used of statements) harmful and often untrue; tending to discredit or malign