Actionable per se. Words in themselves libelous
or slanderous. Knapp v. Post Printing & Publishing Co., 111 Colo. 492,
144 P.2d 981, 984. Words which law presumes must actually, proximately
and necessarily damage defendant for which general damages are recoverable
and whose injurious character is a fact of common notoriety, established
by the general consent of men, necessarily importing damage. Actions based
on such words require no proof of damages. Words actionable per se include
imputation of crime, a loathsome disease, unchastity, or words affecting
plaintiff's business, trade, profession, office or calling. See
Libelous per se.
SOURCE: Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition