show someone in a bad light
to make someone seem to be a bad person:
He was concerned that the article had shown him in a bad light.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Damaging reputation
- besmirch
- black mark
- blacken
- blot
- blot your copybook idiom
- calumniate
- dog
- drag sb's name through the mire/mud idiom
- give a dog a bad name idiom
- hurl/throw/sling mud at sb idiom
- impugn
- mud
- poison
- scurrilous
- slander
- stab
- stain
- sully
- taint
- vilify
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