κατάλᾰλ-ος G2637
slanderer, one who speaks evil against another
This noun identifies a person who habitually engages in malicious gossip or defamation. Romans 1:30 includes 'slanderers' in Paul's catalog of vices characterizing humanity under divine wrath. The word combines 'down/against' with 'speaking,' emphasizing speech directed against someone's reputation. All four translation witnesses (slanderers, calumniadores, médisant, Verleumder) converge on the idea of malicious, destructive talk. Unlike mere gossip, κατάλαλος suggests deliberate, hostile verbal assault on another's character. This agent noun marks a person by their characteristic vice of evil speaking.
Senses
1. sense 1 — In the descent-into-depravity catalog, 'slanderers' appear alongside haters of God and inventors of evil—those whose speech habitually tears down others through false or malicious reports. The term identifies not occasional gossip but persons defined by their defamatory communication. This vice disrupts community through weaponized words. 1×
AR["مُفتَرينَ"]·ben["নিন্দাকারী,"]·DE["Verleumder"]·EN["slanderers"]·FR["médisant"]·heb["מוֹצִיאֵי-דִּבָּה"]·HI["निन्दा-करनेवाले"]·ID["pemfitnah,"]·IT["maldicente"]·jav["pitenah,"]·KO["비방하는-자들"]·PT["caluniadores"]·RU["клеветников"]·ES["calumniadores"]·SW["wasingiziaji,"]·TR["iftira-edenler"]·urd["بدگوئی-کرنے-والے"]
Related Senses
H0559 1. say, speak, tell (5297×)G3004 1. say, tell, speak (2226×)H1696 1. speak, say, tell (Piel) (1105×)H7121 1. call, summon, name (575×)H6680 1. command, order, charge (483×)H6030b 1. answer, respond, reply (289×)G2980 1. speak, talk (277×)H5046 1. Hifil: to tell, report (237×)G0611 1. answer or respond verbally (232×)H1288 1. Piel: bless, invoke blessing (227×)H7650 1. swear, take an oath (Niphal) (154×)H3789 1. Qal passive participle: written, recorded (112×)H1984b 1. praise, laud (Piel) (111×)H7592 1. ask, inquire, question (96×)H3034 1. give thanks, praise (Hifil) (94×)G1321 1. teach, instruct actively (92×)H3789 2. Qal active: write, compose (89×)G1125 1. to write, compose (a letter or document) (84×)H5046 2. Hifil: to declare, proclaim (79×)H7892a 1. song, musical composition (78×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
κατάλᾰλ-ος, ὁ, slanderer, Ep. Rom. 1.30, Refs