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Examples of sully in a Sentence
people that sully our state parks with their trash
a once-gleaming marble interior sullied by decades of exposure to cigarette smoke
Did You Know?
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." If you're looking for other words that mean "to soil," you can try out befoul, besmirch, blacken, foul, grime, stain, or simply dirty. You might wonder if the English word sullen (meaning "gloomy or morose") is a relative of sully, and the answer is no. Sullen traces back by way of Anglo- and Old French to Latin solus, meaning "alone."
Origin and Etymology of sully
Middle English *sullien, probably alteration (influenced by Anglo-French suillier, soiller to soil) of sulen to soil, from Old English sylian
First Known Use of sully
1601
Sully
playDefinition of Sully
Thomas 1783–1872 American (English-born) painter
SULLY Defined for English Language Learners
sully
playDefinition of sully for English Language Learners
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: to damage or ruin the good quality of (something)
Learn More about sully
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See words that rhyme with sully Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for sully Spanish Central: Translation of sully Nglish: Translation of sully for Spanish speakers
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