to sully
13
7.6
- verb
- /ˈsʌli/
:
manchar
- And because of that, I think local news is still very, very careful about sullying that relationship with the viewer.
- sully your reputation
- sully the image
- sully his name
These Socrates never sullied himself in that way.
- These Socrates never sullied himself in that way.
- I'm not going to let it sully the whole proceedings, but I'm starting from irked.
- Many people have these stories of family members who would rather watch a family member suffer than to have their world views sullied.
- Many people have these stories of family members who would rather watch a family member suffer than to have their worldview sullied.
- There was no appetite to within the BBC it seems to do anything to sully the name of a guy who just had a three day, you know, quasi state funeral.
- You know, that was he, he, he violated his his oath of office and and sully the uniforming war.
- And you know, you can take homeopathic doses of everything without being sullied.
Examples
-
I did not mean to sully your birthright, my friend.
Fiction book (1999) -
You have no idea what you are talking about, so don't sully his name with your insults.
Blog text (25) -
People are doing real work on them, but Apple has sullied that product line.
-
Rather, he feared that if they were made public, they could sully the reputation of the Vatican.
Academic text (2011) -
You sully our name!
-
I was ashamed, embarrassed, terrified that people in my office would see it, that the reputation of the firm was being sullied by me.
-
How sad that con artists are sullying the trusted profession of online influencer.
-
A big FU for trying to sully Susan Rice's reputation over phony allegations.
Blog text (33) -
Many critics say the only way to avoid sullying the judiciary is merit selection, which the ABA has supported for more than 70 years.
Academic text (2002) -
He was afraid that his mistakes would sully his reputation in the industry.
Synonyms
126
7.3
To make something harmful or spoil its quality
97
4.4
To damage a relationship or group by spreading bad ideas
80
2.8
To make something less good or enjoyable
60
4.9
To make something like metal or a reputation lose its shine
56
4.4
To make something less clear or bright by covering it
55
6.1
To make false or unfair statements to hurt someone's reputation
48
7.8
To say bad things about someone without a good reason to make them seem less important
38
8.6
To make something dirty or harm its reputation
31
6.3
To say false things that damage someone's reputation
18
6.8
To say false things about someone that harm their good name
14
8.8
Make a person or company look bad by saying bad things about them
6
3.8
Make people think less of someone after a bad action
3
6.0
Damage the respect and good opinion people have of someone or something
3
7.7
Damage or spoil something badly
2
9.9
Make a contract or decision not valid by law
2
5.3
To damage how something looks or its quality
1
9.9
To say false things about someone to harm their reputation
1
9.9
To damage someone's name by saying false things about them
To say things that are not true about someone to hurt their reputation
To make something dirty or spoil its reputation
Antonyms
How Damaging
Surface Forms
Etymology
Sully comes from the old French word souillier, which means 'to soil' or 'to make dirty' and is like the English word soil. So to sully someone is to make their name 'dirty', which is why it means to damage a person's reputation.