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besmirched 1 of 2

adjective

as in stained
not clean wiped the toddler's besmirched face with a damp cloth

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

besmirched

2 of 2

verb

past tense of besmirch
as in blackened
to make dirty inconsiderately besmirched the carpet with their dirty feet

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of besmirched
Verb
Our nation’s capital is besmirched, on his say-so, with signs and banners bearing his likeness and name. — Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Aug. 2026 Bryna Laub, editor of Daytime Serial Newsletter, felt the show besmirched the sanctity of soaps and contributed to the broader currents of shame surrounding the genre. — Literary Hub, 18 May 2026 And thus one of the more wholesome and fun events in the White House calendar was besmirched by a man who simply cannot stop with the zero-sum partisan nonsense even when surrounded by impressionable young faces. — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 8 Apr. 2026 Trump has focused on tourist-friendly areas being besmirched by crime. — Niall Stanage, The Hill, 11 Aug. 2025 These hardy souls, largely indifferent to political and economic turbulence, were the mainstay of the tourist economy during the civil war that besmirched the lives of an entire generation from the 1980s on. — Chandrahas Choudhury, Condé Nast Traveler, 1 Mar. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for besmirched
  1. stained
  2. blackened
  3. filthy
  4. dirtied
  5. muddy
  6. sullied
  7. dusty
  8. dirty
Adjective
  • With stained glass, the gray light from outside is filtered through beautiful pieces of glass.
    — Ryan Brennan, Charlotte Observer, 11 Sep. 2026
  • How To Deep Clean Stained Wood Baseboards For stained wood baseboards, Matthews advises dusting using a dry microfiber cloth and Murphy’s Oil or a wood cleaning oil (remove excessive dirt and crumbs with a vacuum cleaner first).
    — Daley Quinn, Southern Living, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of stained
Verb
  • The blaze blackened about 25 acres near the Getty Center before firefighters got the upper hand on it.
    — Tom Tapp, Deadline, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Venus ascendant, sky blackened with the new moon, and acool breeze soothed you.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of blackened
Adjective
  • That praise rings true more than a decade later thanks to joke after filthy joke, cameo after foul-mouthed cameo, scare after genuine scare.
    — Sara Netzley, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Sep. 2026
  • People were filthy in so many ways, so Mike really wrote that in.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of filthy
Verb
  • When stormwater dirtied by road runoff, failing septic tanks and fertilizer sullied crystal-clear rivers and lakes, and nobody cared.
    — Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 Jan. 2026
  • Garments can be dirtied again by the elements if air-dried outside.
    — Mary Cornetta, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Dec. 2025
Definition of dirtied
Adjective
  • The floating schools were a response to a longstanding local problem of seasonal floods and impassable, muddy roads that kept children from reaching conventional schools.
    — Ali Asif Shawon, NPR, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Half-dead and dragging himself on his belly through a muddy field, Eddie is far from the calm, affable aristocrat audiences first met in Season 1.
    — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of muddy
Verb
  • Shortly after Palace’s next match had finished, a defeat by Everton on the opening weekend of the new season, his reputation among the supporters had been sullied again.
    — Matt Woosnam, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Such shenanigans are more or less expected, and certainly haven’t forever sullied the American soccer fan base, at least here at home.
    — Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 7 July 2026
Definition of sullied
Adjective
  • Saharan dust, a mass of dry, dusty air, can inhibit the development of tropical systems and storms.
    — Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Purple Haze From smoky lilac to rich plum, from wine red to dusty mauve, the purple palette reigns supreme this time of year.
    — Joy Montgomery, Vogue, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of dusty
Adjective
  • About 15 feet away, there was an oversized rolling laundry bin where players would walk around reporters to drop off their dirty clothes.
    — Candace Buckner, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026
  • In them, again and again, peering over the shoulders of the dirty loft buildings and overscale Cadillac Eldorados, the twin towers of the World Trade Center appear.
    — Baldwin Lee, Curbed, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of dirty

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Cite this Entry

“Besmirched.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/besmirched. Accessed 17 Sep. 2026.

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