to besmirch
14
8.8
- verb
- /bɪˈsmɜːrtʃ/
- Formal
:
mancillar
- The scandal did little to besmirch the politician's long-standing support among his followers.
Biography is both beloved and besmirched as an historical form.
- Biography is both beloved and besmirched as an historical form.
- And how dare, how dare you besmirch the OK name of Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
- So I egregiously and unacceptably besmirched Wikipedia's reputation.
- Not to besmirch the good name of kool-aid, it was flavour aid.
- If what they say is something that isn't true but does besmirch your reputation, then you can only be respond by being louder with the truth.
- Yeah, when you ever besmirch Billy?
- He can't be besmirched or weakened by being touched, let alone having sex, as he's going to do in the story.
Examples
-
You should be ashamed of yourself for besmirching the name of a fine lady such as that, I say.
Blog text (5) -
It seems my father's honor is much besmirched.
-
For their part, the men promised to serve with honor and not besmirch the good name of their community.
Academic text (1991) -
I would not besmirch the sincerity and efforts of our proud little town here if I were you, sir.
-
I will not let the 12-year reputation of this fine institution be besmirched by you!
-
The governor himself was exercised as to whether his reputation had been besmirched by his attendance at the Bible Society meeting.
Academic text (2018) -
I will not have my reputation and name, and the virtues which I espouse, besmirched for the behaviour of a single group of men...
-
I challenge this committee to produce any witness or evidence against me and if they do not, I hope they will have the decency to clear my name with the same publicity with which they have besmirched it.
-
Adam Schiff back then denounced attacks on the finding of Mueller as, quote, a very underhanded effort to besmirch his character.
-
He spread false rumors to besmirch her reputation in the community.
Synonyms
126
7.3
To make something harmful or spoil its quality
66
6.3
To harm someone's reputation so others stop trusting them
62
4.5
To make someone lose respect or honor by doing something shameful
60
4.9
To make something like metal or a reputation lose its shine
55
6.1
To make false or unfair statements to hurt someone's reputation
48
5.3
To make someone or something lose respect by bad action
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
15
7.3
To severely criticize someone or something
13
7.6
Make someone's good name seem bad
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
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 make something dirty or spoil its reputation
To say things that are not true about someone to hurt their reputation
To bring shame on a person or group
Antonyms
How Tainted
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
The word besmirch comes from the parts be- and smirch, where smirch meant 'to stain' or 'make dirty'. Think of the common word smear, which means to spread dirt, because to besmirch someone's name is to 'stain' their reputation.