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Another word for smear

a-z
Verb

  1. To spread with a greasy, sticky, or dirty substance

      1. To make dirty, especially in one small area:
      2. To smear or blur (something):
      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 make dirty or discolor as by smearing or staining with grime
      2. To soil, stain, or dirty with or as if with a smearing agent:
      3. To sully or dishonor (a reputation, good name, etc.)
      1. To affix conspicuously, usually with a paste:
      2. To apply a plaster to:
      3. To apply plaster.
      1. To apply paint or coloring with crude, unskillful strokes.
      2. To cover or smear with a soft adhesive substance such as plaster, grease, or mud.
      3. To smear (plaster, grease, etc.) on
      1. To rub or pat (something) lightly:
      2. To put on (paint, etc.) with light, quick strokes
      3. To apply with short poking strokes:
      1. To smear over; bedaub; soil
      2. To smear.
      1. To smear; soil.
      2. To ornament showily; overdecorate
      3. To ornament in a vulgar, showy fashion.
    See also:

    put-on

  2. 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 dirty with excrement.
      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 The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.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 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 stain; sully:
      2. To bring dishonor to; sully
      3. To make dirty; soil
      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

  3. To render totally ineffective by decisive defeat

      1. (Informal, US) To inflict a heavy defeat; to drub; to batter. Used primarily in sports and political contexts.
      2. To apply shellac to; cover or varnish with shellac
      3. To coat or finish with shellac.
      1. To add cream to
      2. To separate as cream
      3. To cook with cream or a cream sauce
      1. To strike with great force
      2. To beat or hit repeatedly; maul
      3. To strike violently and repeatedly; batter or maul.
      1. To move along in a rapid, reckless, awkward way
      2. To strike with a hard blow:
      3. To move in a heavy or clumsy manner.
      1. To kill indiscriminately and mercilessly and in large numbers
      2. To kill indiscriminately and wantonly; slaughter.
      3. (Informal) To botch; bungle:
      1. To conquer or defeat in battle; force into submission
      2. To overcome (a feeling, condition, etc.); suppress
      3. To overcome or subdue (an emotion, for example); suppress:
      1. To defeat decisively:
      2. To criticize severely:
      3. To beat; thrash; flog
      1. To move wildly or violently:
      2. To swing or strike in a manner suggesting the action of a flail:
      3. To strike or beat, especially repeatedly with a flail or stick.
      1. To move or proceed with overwhelming or crushing force.
      2. To move with overwhelming force, or use steamroller tactics
      3. To overwhelm or suppress ruthlessly; crush.
      1. To strike with a heavy blow or impact:
      2. To break suddenly into pieces, as from a violent blow or collision:
      3. To break or shatter into pieces with noise or violence
      1. To defeat completely and decisively:
      2. To present with an excessive amount:
      3. To turn over; upset:
      1. To render imperceptible by means of greater strength, intensity etc.
      2. To dominate because of superior or excessive strength; overwhelm
      3. To excel or exceed in power; to cause to yield; to subdue.
      1. To beat as with a stick or club; cudgel; thrash
      2. To thrash with a stick.
      3. To defeat soundly in a fight, contest, etc.
      1. To be or become crushed:
      2. To crumple or rumple:
      3. To break, pound, or grind (stone or ore, for example) into small fragments or powder.
      1. To destroy completely:
      2. To conquer decisively; crush
      3. To consider or cause to be of no importance or without effect; nullify
    See also:

    win

Noun

  1. A discolored mark made by smearing

      1. A substance used to impart color in staining
      2. A discoloration, streak, or spot resulting from staining
      3. A liquid substance applied especially to wood that penetrates the surface and imparts a rich color.
      1. A spot, splash, or stain, esp. one that is irregular
      2. An irregularly shaped spot, stain, or colored area.
      3. An irregular-shaped spot or stain.
      1. A dirty spot or mark; smudge
      2. A stain or spot of dirt.
      3. A stain, smudge or blot
      1. (US) A heap of damp combustibles partially ignited and burning slowly, placed on the windward side of a house, tent, etc. to keep off mosquitoes or other insects.
      2. Such smoke produced by burning a material in containers (smudge pots), esp. for driving away insects or protecting plants from frost
      3. A stain, blur, or smear; dirty spot
      1. Something, such as a blot, smear, or stain, that smirches.
      2. A stain on a reputation, etc.
      3. A smudge; smear; stain
      1. A daubing stroke or splash
      2. A poorly painted picture
      3. A soft adhesive coating material such as plaster, grease, or mud.
      1. A spot or blot; a splotch.
      2. Any of several plant diseases caused by fungi or bacteria and resulting in brown or black dead areas on leaves or fruit.
      3. A discolored patch or blemish on the skin
      1. A moral stain; disgrace
      2. A spot or a stain caused by a discoloring substance:
      3. A spot or stain, esp. of ink
    See also:

    marks

  2. An attempt to destroy someone's reputation

    See also:

    praise

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

Another word for smear

Noun
      1. A false and malicious statement or report about someone.
      2. Such a spoken statement
      3. The utterance in the presence of another person of a false statement or statements, damaging to a third person's character or reputation: usually distinguished from libel, which is written
      1. The alteration of the original form of a signal representing an image, a sound, a waveform, or other information.
      2. A distorting or being distorted
      3. A visible or audible effect of such an alteration, such as the warping of an image or noise in an audio recording.
    See also:

    trick

    lie

    deception

Verb

  1. To spread

    See also:

    spread

    paint

  2. To slander

      1. To give an unflattering or damaging picture of
      2. To publish or broadcast a libel about (a person).
      3. To bring suit against by presenting a libel
      1. To attack the reputation of (a person or thing) with strong or abusive criticism.
      2. To use abusive or slanderous language about or of; calumniate; revile; defame
      1. (Archaic) To bring infamy on; disgrace
      2. To damage the reputation, character, or good name of (someone) by slander or libel.
      3. To attack or injure the reputation or honor of by false and malicious statements; malign, slander, or libel
    See also:

    slander

    insult

  3. *To defeat

    See also:

    defeat

  4. To dirty

      1. To defile; taint:
      2. (Obs.) To become sullied
      3. To soil, stain, tarnish, or besmirch, now esp. by disgracing
      1. To become marked with spots:
      2. To remove (individual spots, marks, etc.) as in dry cleaning
      3. To soil with spots:
      1. To become dirty, stained, or tarnished.
      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.
    See also:

    dirty

© WEBSTER’S NEW WORLD® ROGET’S A-Z THESAURUS by Charlton Laird and the editors of Webster’s New World dictionaries. Copyright © 1999 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Sentence Examples

  • They also melt frankincense as a depilatory, and smear their hands with a paste into the composition of which frankincense enters, for the purpose of communicating to them an attractive perfume.

  • A widow must shave her head, smear her body with black and the exudations of the corpse, and wear mourning for a long time.

  • unctio, anointing, ungere, unguere, to smear with ointment, to anoint; cf.

  • 19 sqq., we read " that the masmasu (priest's magician) is to pass forth to the gateway, sacrifice a sheep in the palace portal, and to smear the threshold and posts of the palace gateway right 'and left with the blood of the lamb."

  • shirts of the natives of the poorer classes, and is, when very dark, the color of mourning; therefore, women at funerals, and generall after a death, smear themselves with it.

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Words that mention smear in the Dictionary

Words near smear in the Thesaurus