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Another word for besmirch

a-z
Verb

  1. To contaminate the reputation of

      1. To dull the luster of; discolor, especially by exposure to air or dirt:
      2. To lose luster; become discolored:
      3. To dull the luster of or discolor the surface of (a metal) as by exposure to air
      1. To affect or associate with something undesirable or reprehensible:
      2. (Obs.) To sully or stain
      3. To expose to an infectious agent, toxin, or undesirable substance:
      1. To defile; taint:
      2. (Obs.) To become sullied
      3. To soil, stain, tarnish, or besmirch, now esp. by disgracing
      1. To change the appearance of (wood, glass, etc.) by applying a dye, pigment, etc.
      2. To change the color of (a piece of wood, for example) by applying a stain.
      3. To discolor, soil, or spot:
      1. To come forth in drops or small amounts:
      2. To spot, splash, or soil with drops or small amounts:
      3. To splash, spot, or soil with such drops or blobs
      1. To smirch or stain
      2. Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster's Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
      3. To feed, as cattle or horses, in the barn or an enclosure, with fresh grass or green food cut for them, instead of sending them out to pasture; hence (such food having the effect of purging them), to purge by feeding on green food.
      1. To be or become blackened or smudged.
      2. To mark or affect with smut
      3. To affect (a plant) with smut fungus.
      1. To become smudged or blurred:
      2. To make dirty, especially in one small area:
      3. To fill (an orchard or an inhabited area) with dense smoke from a smudge pot in order to prevent damage from frost or to repel insects.
      1. To apply (a ) to, so as to leave a coating, mark, etc.
      2. To spread or daub (a surface, for example) with a sticky, greasy, or dirty substance.
      3. To cover, daub, or soil with something greasy, sticky, or dirty
      1. To become soiled.
      2. To make or become dirty; soil; tarnish; stain
      3. To stain or tarnish with dishonor.
      1. (Archaic) To blacken
      2. To disparage; belittle:
      3. To attack the character or reputation of; speak ill of; defame:
      1. To cover or obscure with clouds:
      2. To show sorrow, worry, or anger:
      3. To become dark, obscure, or less transparent:
      1. To hurt or damage by slander, libel, etc.
      2. To become dark or black:
      3. To coat (fish or meat, for example) with pepper and other spices and then quickly sear in a very hot skillet, thereby producing meat that is black on the outside but tender on the inside.
      1. (Figuratively) To asperse with calumny or reproach; shend.
      2. To spatter or cover with something; sprinkle with anything liquid, or with any wet or adhesive substance.
      3. To soil by spattering.
      1. To smear.
      2. To smear over; bedaub; soil
      1. To cast aspersions upon; speak badly of.
      2. To make filthy; dirty; soil
      3. To entangle or run against so as to impede motion.
    Idioms:
    See also:

    clean

    attack

  2. To make dirty

    See also:

    clean

© Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Words that mention besmirch in the Dictionary

Words near besmirch in the Thesaurus