blemish

1 to affect slightly with something morally bad or undesirable a single indiscretion blemished the rabbi's reputation for years Synonyms taint, darken, mar, poison, spoil, stain, tarnish, touch, vitiateRelated Words begrime, besmear, besmirch, blacken, blur, cloud, dirty, discolor, pollute, smear, smirch, smudge, smut, soil, sully, tar; abase, cheapen, debase, degrade, demean, discredit, disgrace, dishonor, foul, lower, shame, sink; bastardize, corrupt, debauch, demoralize, deprave, pervert, subvert; color, distort, twistNear Antonyms cleanse, purify; dignify, elevate, ennoble, enshrine, glorify, hallow, magnify, uplift

2 to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of a scratch blemished the finish on the car Synonyms damage, bloody, break, compromise, crab, cripple, cross (up), deface, disfigure, endamage, flaw, harm, hurt, impair, injure, mar, spoil, vitiateRelated Words deteriorate, enervate, enfeeble, undermine, weaken; erode, scour, wash out, wear (away); blight, tarnish; dent, ding, dint; botch, gum (up), queer; lacerate, wound; disable, hamstring, lame, maim, mangle, mutilate, torment, torture; annihilate, bang up, bash, batter, clobber, crush, dash, decimate, demolish, desolate, destroy, devastate, do in, pulverize, raze, ruin, scourge, shatter, smash, tear down, total, waste, wipe out, wreckNear Antonyms cure, heal, help, rectify, rehabilitate, remedy; edit, remodel, revise; ameliorate, better, enhance, enrich, improve, meliorate, perfect, refineAntonyms doctor, fix, mend, patch, rebuild, recondition, reconstruct, renovate, repair, revamp