Aspersion

a damaging or derogatory remark or criticism; slander:
casting aspersions on a campaign rival.
the act of slandering; vilification; defamation; calumniation; derogation:
Such vehement aspersions cannot be ignored.
the act of sprinkling, as in baptism.
Archaic. a shower or spray.
Contemporary Examples

I suspect that Obama, too—for all his personal angst over the Muslim aspersion—will be with squarely with me on this one.
Ignorant America Tunku Varadarajan August 29, 2010

And Tobin, by somehow completely ignoring the definition of the word “aspersion,” said this wasn’t one.
Commentary Mag Defends Bigoted Smears Against Palestinian NFL Player Ali Gharib July 16, 2013

Historical Examples

Peggotty seemed to take this aspersion very much to heart, I thought.
The Personal History of David Copperfield
Charles Dickens

She evidently regarded the statement as an aspersion upon myself.
Novel Notes Jerome K. Jerome

Julia would not have understood the full meaning of this aspersion of her purity, had she not caught Humphreys’s eye.
The End Of The World Edward Eggleston

But think not that I ever had any idea of casting an aspersion on you.
Kosciuszko Monica Mary Gardner

It always seems to me, by the way, that the term is an aspersion against the institution of marriage.
The Lure of Old London Sophie Cole

But of this aspersion he was fully cleared, by the confession of the real father.
Biographia Scoticana (Scots Worthies) John Howie

Loud murmurs of dissent from twenty boys greeted this aspersion.
Tell England Ernest Raymond

“You call ’em hole-proof socks,” said Skippy, ignoring the aspersion.
Skippy Bedelle Owen Johnson

noun
a disparaging or malicious remark; slanderous accusation (esp in the phrase cast aspersions (on))
the act of defaming
(rare) the act of sprinkling, esp of water in baptism
n.

mid-15c., from Latin aspersionem (nominative aspersio) “a sprinkling,” noun of action from past participle stem of aspergere “to sprinkle on,” from ad- “to” (see ad-) + spargere “sprinkle, strew” (see sparse). Originally in theology, the shedding of Christ’s blood. Modern sense of “bespattering with slander” first attested 1590s. To cast aspersions was in Fielding (1749).