besmirch
/bɪˈsməːtʃ
/verb [with object]
1Damage (someone’s reputation): he had besmirched the good name of his family...
- The case has shown how easy it is for a hard-working and respected professional to have their name and reputation besmirched by one wild accusation.
- That would be truly despicable of the Senate to allow his reputation to be permanently besmirched.
- At no stage did any of these worthies think it necessary to do some fact-checking before besmirching the reputation of a former cabinet officer.
Synonyms
sully, tarnish, blacken, drag through the mud/mire, stain, taint, smear, befoul, soil, contaminate, pollute, disgrace, dishonour, bring discredit to, stigmatize, injure, damage, debase, spoil, ruin;
slander, defame
literary smirch, besmear
archaic breathe on, spot
2 literary Make (something) dirty or discoloured: the ground was besmirched with blood...
- He should be besmirched with smoke, grime, and the most rancid of grease.
- His body was bruised, his hands were bleeding, and his rags were all besmirched with mud.
- The insensitive Jane firmly replied that she had no use for a husband with a flat head, a half-naked body and copper-colored skin besmirched with whale oil."
Rhymes
- inattentive
- inattentively
- inattentiveness
- in a twinkling (or the twinkling of an eye)
- inaudibility
- inaudible
- inaudibly
- inaugural
- inaugurate
- inauguration
- inauguration day
- inaugurator
- inauguratory
- inauspicious
- inauspiciously
- inauspiciousness
- inauthentic
- inauthentically
- inauthenticity
- in a vacuum
- in a way (or in some ways or in one way)
- in a whirl
- in a word
- in a world of one's own
- in a —— light