besmirch
verb/bɪˈsmɜːtʃ/UK/bɪˈsmɝːt͡ʃ/US
Etymology
From Middle English besmorchen (attested in besmorchid). Compare Middle English bismotered (“bespattered, soiled”). By surface analysis, be- + smirch.
- inherited from besmorchen
Definitions
To make dirty.
To tarnish something, especially someone's reputation.
- The newspaper was on a campaign to besmirch the actor.
- Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field
- "It may be," he replied, "because I will not encounter the dishonor that besmirches the husband of a faithless woman.[…]"
The neighborhood
Derived
besmircher, besmirchment, unbesmirch, unbesmirchable, unbesmirched
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for besmirch. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA