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Glite Dictionary
to besmear

to besmear

9.9
To cover something with a sticky or greasy substance
  • verb
  • /bɪsˈmɪr/
translation icon : untar
  • The children besmeared the walls with their colorful finger paints.

Examples

  • He decided to besmear the old door with a thick coat of paint.

  • One of them, besmeared black, said, "Seignior, I am a poor miller."

    Fiction book (1998)

  • I swear by yon inconstant moon, whose silvery beams besmears the lost horizon...

    The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)

  • It lies in finding that damned book and thwarting a vile beast of a man who shall not rest until God himself is thrown down and all of creation becomes Satan's black hell-besmeared farting hole.

    Warlock (1989)

  • After the messy crafts project, her hands were besmeared with glue and glitter.

Synonyms

to smear
vsto besmear
63 3.7

To spread a substance over a surface in a messy way

is specifically about covering with sticky or greasy substances rather than general untidiness
to plaster
vsto besmear
30 3.8

To cover a surface thickly or stick things all over it

is about covering with sticky or greasy substances rather than full covering or decoration
to slather
vsto besmear
  • Informal
15 6.9

Spread a thick layer of a wet thing like sauce or sunscreen on a surface

focuses on covering with sticky or greasy substances rather than the amount spread
to slime
vsto besmear
13 6.5

To cover something with a thick slippery substance

focuses on sticky or greasy substances rather than slippery viscous ones
to daub
vsto besmear
3 8.1

To cover a surface roughly with a thick sticky substance

is more neutral, covering with sticky or greasy substances without rough carelessness
to bedaub
vsto besmear
1 9.9

To cover something thickly with a sticky, messy substance

focuses on covering with sticky or greasy substances without extra messiness
to daube
vsto besmear
9.9

To smear something roughly with paint, plaster, or another soft wet material

focuses on covering with sticky or greasy substances without stressing roughness
to beplaster
vsto besmear
  • Archaic
9.9

To cover a surface thickly with stickers, paste, or cream

is mainly about covering with sticky or greasy substances, not conspicuous coating

Antonyms

to clean
∞ 1.0

To remove dirt and stains

to purify
30 4.6

To remove dirt and bad chemicals from water or air to make them clean

How Smeared

to besmear
9.9
to coat
105 2.8
to daub
3 8.1
to smear
63 3.7
to dab
11 2.8

Surface Forms

besmear infinitive
besmeared past
besmeared past participle
besmearing present participle
besmears third person singular

Morphology

besmear = smear (transparent) = be + smear

The prefix 'be' adds the sense of covering or causing and combines straightforwardly with the verb 'smear', so the meaning is directly derived.

Etymology

Besmear begins with be-, a word part meaning 'to cover or make', and uses smear, which means 'to spread a sticky or dirty substance'. So besmear means to 'cover a surface with a sticky or greasy substance', which is how the word is used today.