sully

Noun · Verb
US[suhl-ee]/ˈsʌli/2 syllables
Synonyms: Thomas SullyDuc de SullyMaxmilien de Bethunedefilecorrupttaintcloudtarnishstainmaculatedefameslander

Open English WordNet

Noun (2)sullies

  1. United States painter (born in England) of portraits and historical scenes (1783-1872)Synonyms: Thomas SullyInstance of painter
  2. French statesman (1560-1641)Synonyms: Duc de SullyMaxmilien de BethuneInstance of solon, national leader

Verb (3)sullied, sullies, sullying

  1. place under suspicion or cast doubt upon“sully someone's reputation”Synonyms: defilecorrupttaintcloudMore general mar, impair
  2. make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air; also used metaphorically“The silver was tarnished by the long exposure to the air”“Her reputation was sullied after the affair with a married man”Synonyms: tarnishstainmaculatedefileMore general spot, fleckMore specific darken
  3. 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”Synonyms: defameslandersmirchaspersedenigratecalumniatesmearbesmirchMore general charge, accuseMore specific badmouth, assassinate, libel

Related words smirch noun

Word of the day · Nov 5About this word
gregariousadjective

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Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Sul′ly transitive verb [past tense & past participle Sullied; present participle & verbal noun Sullying.]

Origin: OE. sulien, AS. sylian, fr. sol mire; akin to G. suhle mire, sich, sühlen to wallow, Sw. söla to bemire, Dan. söle, Goth. bisaulijan to defile.

To soil; to dirty; to spot; to tarnish; to stain; to darken; — used literally and figuratively; as, to sully a sword; to sully a person's reputation.

Statues sullied yet with sacrilegious smoke.— Wentworth Dillon, Lord Roscommon
No spots to sully the brightness of this solemnity.— Francis Atterbury
Sul′ly intransitive verb

To become soiled or tarnished.

Silvering will sully and canker more than gilding.— Francis, Baron Verulam Bacon
Sul′ly noun; pl. Sullies (…).

Soil; tarnish; stain.

A noble and triumphant merit breaks through little spots and sullies in his reputation.— The Spectator

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54

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