as in stained
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
1
as in blackened
to make dirty
their clothes were smirched by dust from the trail
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in humiliated
to reduce to a lower standing in one's own eyes or in others' eyes
this scandal will forever smirch the name of a once-great family
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smirched
Adjective
-
Place a dab of olive oil on a soft cloth and gently rub the stained area.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
The Spruce,
4 Mar. 2026 -
The stained glass of the smoking room had had a red hue based on the Olympic, but was changed to yellow based on the Titanic artifacts.—
Dewayne Bevil,
The Orlando Sentinel,
4 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Once a sky-blue democracy is restored, may Trump’s days of infamy be ruled illegitimate and his name and legacy duly tainted by all of history, darkly blackened or cautiously reddened in the honest records that this twerp and his twisted cohorts have conspired so heinously to whitewash.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
8 Mar. 2026
-
After Mitchell’s arrest, the sheriff’s department released a photo of him, handcuffed, his face still blackened.—
USA Today,
USA Today,
8 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Iran’s two major adversaries have thoroughly humiliated it; the regime was not able to hide its reclusive leader for even a few hours.—
Arash Azizi,
The Atlantic,
1 Mar. 2026
-
Most casual fans could spend their entire lives studying a library’s worth of chess theory, only to still be routinely humiliated by competitive players.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
26 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Let the paste sit for 10 to 20 minutes, leaving it on longer for heavily greased or soiled areas.—
Louise Parks,
Martha Stewart,
16 Jan. 2026
-
Bonner’s story is what is right about sports, which seem to become more soiled and corrupt by the minute.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
8 Jan. 2026
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
Verb
-
After storms and flooding across Spain, Poland and the United States in late 2024, Moscow worked to claim that support for Ukraine had left countries vulnerable, stoked grievances in NATO countries and discredited Western democracies.—
Michael Chertoff,
The Orlando Sentinel,
4 Mar. 2026
-
The Hamas massacre of October 7—whose atrocities were broadcast online by its perpetrators and seared into the Israeli consciousness—upended and discredited this approach.—
Yair Rosenberg,
The Atlantic,
2 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Kelli Bryant, 34, was facing three counts each of child abuse related to allegedly forcing her three children, a 15-year-old boy and a 13- and 12-year-old girl, to live in unbearable, filthy conditions in an apartment on Lydia Lane.—
Paula Wethington,
CBS News,
25 Feb. 2026
-
Other parts of the ballpark, including the exterior concourse and entrances, were also impacted by the filthy leaks, which stunk to high heaven.—
Gary Phillips,
Hartford Courant,
22 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
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
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.
Cite this Entry
“Smirched.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smirched. Accessed 11 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
