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The spelling of sully has shifted several times since it was sylian in Old English, but its meaning has remained essentially the same: "to soil." In case you are wondering whether sullen (meaning "gloomy or morose") is a relative, the answer is "no." Sullen comes from Latin solus, meaning "alone."
Examples of sully in a Sentence
Verb
people that sully our state parks with their trash
a once-gleaming marble interior sullied by decades of exposure to cigarette smoke
Recent Examples on the Web
Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 16 Apr. 2026
And could a second season, sans the extraordinary talents of Steven Yeun and Ali Wong, deliver a story and themes in keeping with that brand, without sullying what was so deviously tricky about the original series and its tone?
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 16 Apr. 2026
Crowds were relatively small last month, especially compared to March weekends in the years after the COVID pandemic, when thousands of young people packed Ocean Drive and the party was sullied by shootings, stampedes and curfews.
—Aaron Leibowitz, Miami Herald, 6 Apr. 2026
But a battlefield promotion to Ayatollah was arranged, blending faith with politics in an exercise that critics said sullied both even before Khamenei reinforced his position by earthly means, elevating the IRGC.
—Karl Vick, Time, 28 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for sully
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Verb
In its first go-round, Beef was ripe with curiosity about first-gen immigrant families and how the fear of leaving home stagnates and sullies us.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 16 Apr. 2026
And could a second season, sans the extraordinary talents of Steven Yeun and Ali Wong, deliver a story and themes in keeping with that brand, without sullying what was so deviously tricky about the original series and its tone?
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 16 Apr. 2026
Crowds were relatively small last month, especially compared to March weekends in the years after the COVID pandemic, when thousands of young people packed Ocean Drive and the party was sullied by shootings, stampedes and curfews.
—Aaron Leibowitz, Miami Herald, 6 Apr. 2026
But a battlefield promotion to Ayatollah was arranged, blending faith with politics in an exercise that critics said sullied both even before Khamenei reinforced his position by earthly means, elevating the IRGC.
—Karl Vick, Time, 28 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for sully
Cite this Entry
“Sully.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sully. Accessed 22 Apr. 2026.
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