smear vs libel

smear and libel both are nouns.

smear and libel both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
smear	Yes	No	Yes	No
libel	Yes	No	Yes	No

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

smear: charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone
libel: print slanderous statements against

Other hyponyms of smear include assassinate, badmouth, drag through the mud, malign, traduce.

smear (noun)	libel (noun)
an act that brings discredit to the person who does it	a false and malicious publication printed for the purpose of defaming a living person
a blemish made by dirt	the written statement of a plaintiff explaining the cause of action (the defamation) and any relief he seeks
a thin tissue or blood sample spread on a glass slide and stained for cytologic examination and diagnosis under a microscope
slanderous defamation

smear (verb)	libel (verb)
charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone	print slanderous statements against
make a smudge on; soil by smudging
stain by smearing or daubing with a dirty substance
cover (a surface) by smearing (a substance) over it

Difference between smear and libel

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