[syn: defame, slander, smirch, asperse, denigrate, calumniate, smear, sully, besmirch]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Smirch \Smirch\, v. t. [From the root of smear.]
To smear with something which stains, or makes dirty; to
smutch; to begrime; to soil; to sully.
[1913 Webster]
I'll . . . with a kind of umber smirch my face. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Smirch \Smirch\, n.
A smutch; a dirty stain.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
smirch
n 1: a blemish made by dirt; "he had a smudge on his cheek"
[syn: smudge, spot, blot, daub, smear, smirch,
slur]
2: an act that brings discredit to the person who does it; "he
made a huge blot on his copybook" [syn: blot, smear,
smirch, spot, stain]
v 1: smear so as to make dirty or stained [syn: smirch,
besmirch]
2: charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name
and reputation of someone; "The journalists have defamed me!"
"The article in the paper sullied my reputation" [syn:
defame, slander, smirch, asperse, denigrate,
calumniate, smear, sully, besmirch]