to tarnish
65
4.9
- verb
- /ˈtɑrnɪʃ/
- Over time, the exposure to air will tarnish the silverware, requiring regular polishing to keep it shiny.
- tarnish a reputation
- tarnish an image
- tarnish credibility
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Watch on YouTubeYou don't want it to, you know, tarnish your image.
- You don't want it to, you know, tarnish your image.
- Don't you dare tarnish the name Sierra Studios.
- And then I don't want to tarnish it with me chasing around the past.
- A lot of these guys felt that, well, we're going to tarnish you all with the same brush.
- His life is ruined, his family name is tarnished.
- But at no point did I want to sort of like try and tarnish you and end your career sort of thing.
- Please, please, please do not try to intentionally tarnish this man's name to validate an exit.
- Although Carnegie won the battle, he emerged with his reputation severely tarnished.
- The reason why I bring that up is because she's also grappling with the same fear of tarnishing her father's life.
- So once the information is out there about what they've done, their reputation is tarnished, right.
- Even across generations back, this is a wild animal that has never been tarnished by human pollution of any kind.
- How many more times can McGregor lose before his legacy is is is really tarnished?
- And that's where depression with post traumatic stress disorder are so harmful to people because it tarnishes their feeling about who they are as people.
- To do so with we, we would make right all our systems and institutions that were so wrongly tarnished and abused.
- And that very much kind of starts to tarnish this lovely smooth round ball that you've created, which is the narrative.
Examples
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I wouldn't want to tarnish your perfect reputation.
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One is I will not stand by while you tarnish the reputation of the great Sambang on a on a few levels.
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I thought that was going to really tarnish the sport that I loved so much.
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Because his wife and all of his kids felt that it would absolutely tarnish their reputation.
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You don't want it to, you know, tarnish your image.
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And I think about how I can protect them from anything that might tarnish their Sonny childhood.
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I remember thinking very highly of Private Bell- not wanting to see his record tarnished by a formal charge.
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China's investments in Sudan, for example, have tarnished its international reputation.
Academic text (2008) -
Thus, the military was able to cleanse its image, tarnished during the October 1988 riots.
Academic text (1993) -
During this time, reports of the systematic human rights abuses have tarnished Iran's reputation in the international community.
Academic text (2004)
Synonyms
46
3.2
To put color on something to change how it looks
37
7.3
To make something harmful or spoil its quality
36
8.6
To make something dirty or harm its reputation
29
5.1
To treat someone so they feel ashamed or less respected
29
5.3
To damage how something looks or its quality
25
7.6
Make someone's good name seem bad
15
8.8
Make a person or company look bad by saying bad things about them
8
6.0
Damage the respect and good opinion people have of someone or something
4
3.8
Make people think less of someone after a bad action
4
4.1
To become faded or stained
1
5.5
To make something look less perfect or attractive
1
9.9
To put a dirty mark on something like a dress or carpet
1
8.5
Make something look bad and spoil its appearance
1
9.8
To make something look dirty or faded
1
9.9
To make a dirty mark or smudge on something
1
7.9
To stain something with black dirt or soot
To make something dirty or spoil its reputation
Antonyms
Phrasal Verbs
How Damaging
Surface Forms
Etymology
Tarnish as a verb comes from the same old French root ternir meaning 'to make dark', so to tarnish someone's reputation is like making their good name 'less bright' or spoiled.