1
as in painted
to rub an oily or sticky substance over
the toddler gleefully smeared her hair and face with maple syrup
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in libeled
to make untrue and harmful statements about
he is willing to smear his opponent if doing so would win the election
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of smeared
Laptop screens get spattered, smeared, dusty, and dirty from frequent use.
—
Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 9 Sep. 2025
Jason’s windshield was smeared, and the late-afternoon sunlight came through hazily.
—Akhil Sharma, New Yorker, 28 Aug. 2025
After many years of legal battles with the city, Smollett lost his job on Empire and his reputation was smeared.
—Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 22 Aug. 2025
Priscilla has, in turn, smeared Kruse and Fialko with false lies and malicious campaigns.
—Stephanie Giang-Paunon, FOXNews.com, 14 Aug. 2025
Plastic faded the blonde color of butter with age and the lettering smeared away, big thumbprint smearing a lilac hollow through the violet plastic of the power button.
—Literary Hub, 13 Aug. 2025
Unless someone else as ghoulish as Aunt Gladys comes along between now and Halloween, get ready for a sea of adults wearing costumes punctuated by bright orange wigs, lips smeared haphazardly with lipstick and enormous eyeglasses.
—Pamela McClintock, HollywoodReporter, 12 Aug. 2025
This is where Greer Lankton sculpted trans bodies into reliquaries, David Wojnarowicz smeared rage and desire across gallery walls, and Cookie Mueller spun downtown chaos into sacred text.
—Amy Harclerode, New York Daily News, 8 Aug. 2025
Schrödinger hoped that the wave might literally describe an electron smeared out in space — a real object that could be visualized — but Born quickly realized that this dream was too simple to be true.
—Quanta Magazine, 8 Aug. 2025
Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 9 Sep. 2025
Jason’s windshield was smeared, and the late-afternoon sunlight came through hazily.
—Akhil Sharma, New Yorker, 28 Aug. 2025
After many years of legal battles with the city, Smollett lost his job on Empire and his reputation was smeared.
—Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 22 Aug. 2025
Priscilla has, in turn, smeared Kruse and Fialko with false lies and malicious campaigns.
—Stephanie Giang-Paunon, FOXNews.com, 14 Aug. 2025
Plastic faded the blonde color of butter with age and the lettering smeared away, big thumbprint smearing a lilac hollow through the violet plastic of the power button.
—Literary Hub, 13 Aug. 2025
Unless someone else as ghoulish as Aunt Gladys comes along between now and Halloween, get ready for a sea of adults wearing costumes punctuated by bright orange wigs, lips smeared haphazardly with lipstick and enormous eyeglasses.
—Pamela McClintock, HollywoodReporter, 12 Aug. 2025
This is where Greer Lankton sculpted trans bodies into reliquaries, David Wojnarowicz smeared rage and desire across gallery walls, and Cookie Mueller spun downtown chaos into sacred text.
—Amy Harclerode, New York Daily News, 8 Aug. 2025
Schrödinger hoped that the wave might literally describe an electron smeared out in space — a real object that could be visualized — but Born quickly realized that this dream was too simple to be true.
—Quanta Magazine, 8 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smeared
Verb
-
Cinderella Castle was painted pink for Disney World’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2021.—
Eve Chen,
USA Today,
3 Sep. 2025
-
The house is now painted yellow, and there are tenants.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Dust coated my skin, dried out my contact lenses.—
Shaun McKinnon,
AZCentral.com,
2 Sep. 2025
-
Europe's decision to ban the chemical for cosmetic use means that nail salon clients living within the bloc will no longer have their fingernails coated in potentially toxic TPO products.—
Chloe Mayer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Researchers expected the dogs to pay most attention to the cat doll, particularly when daubed with the feline scent.—
Jack Beresford,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Lying at work often shows up as fraud, and some leaders struggle to know where the line is between criminal fraud and stretching the truth a bit, as disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and former cryptocurrency exchange king Sam Bankman-Fried discovered.—
Lindsay Kohler,
Forbes.com,
2 Sep. 2025
-
Here, Emmy winner Edebiri’s character accuses Garfield’s assistant professor of assaulting her after a party, and the film tracks his rapid mental dissolution and disgraced academic status with some standout moments.—
Marcus Jones,
IndieWire,
29 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Inter Miami, clearly humiliated, let out its frustrations after the final whistle, when several Miami players, led by Luis Suarez, got into a scuffle with Seattle players.—
Michelle Kaufman,
Miami Herald,
1 Sep. 2025
-
Having been humiliated at a college party, proceeds to use his tech skills to hack into the accounts of his peers and get revenge.—
Stewart Clarke,
Deadline,
27 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Moreno calls accusations ‘slander’ In a statement provided to The Bee, Moreno denied the accusations and said she was being slandered.—
Nicole Nixon,
Sacbee.com,
9 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Suarez, the 38-year-old Uruguayan icon and one of the greatest strikers in history with more than 500 goals for club and country, has had his legacy stained by disciplinary issues.—
Michelle Kaufman,
Miami Herald,
8 Sep. 2025
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Bricks look weathered and soot-stained, there’s graffiti on the walls, posters are peeling off them and shadows of moving people are even projected onto the windows of the train in the station.—
Caroline Reid,
Forbes.com,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
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In addition to political persecution, returning Venezuelans would reenter a country teetering on collapse—maligned by hyperinflation, soaring unemployment, rampant crime, frequent power outages, water shortages and chronic scarcities of food and medicine.—
Antonio Maria Delgado,
Miami Herald,
3 Sep. 2025
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The conference was maligned all year and played down to its reputation with only four total bids and just one team advancing to the Sweet 16.—
Jon Wilner,
Mercury News,
31 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Smeared.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smeared. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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