as in to stain
to make dirty
people that sully our state parks with their trash a once-gleaming marble interior sullied by decades of exposure to cigarette smoke
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Recent Examples of sully
With Taylor sullied publicly and a leadership void atop the department, Luck became the face of Stanford athletics and the sole possessor of the authority necessary to salvage the football program.
—
Jon Wilner, Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2025
However, his legacy has been sullied by decades of financial disputes and a barrage lawsuits from artists and creditors.
—Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 14 Jan. 2025
Tom Pendergast had been convicted of income tax evasion in 1939, and Truman’s reputation was sullied by association.
—Joseph Thorndike, Forbes, 15 Dec. 2024
What started as a general lack of trust for a cloud environment, laden with security concerns, has morphed into significant increase in cloud adoption only to be sullied by the all-in cost of cloud.
—Paige Francis, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sully
Jon Wilner, Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2025
However, his legacy has been sullied by decades of financial disputes and a barrage lawsuits from artists and creditors.
—Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 14 Jan. 2025
Tom Pendergast had been convicted of income tax evasion in 1939, and Truman’s reputation was sullied by association.
—Joseph Thorndike, Forbes, 15 Dec. 2024
What started as a general lack of trust for a cloud environment, laden with security concerns, has morphed into significant increase in cloud adoption only to be sullied by the all-in cost of cloud.
—Paige Francis, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sully
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sully
Verb
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But with Victoria’s Secret, Super inherited a beleaguered brand stained by upheaval and scandal.—
Alicia Adamczyk,
Fortune,
28 June 2025
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White signaled cleanliness, leisure and a house filled with staff who could get those pesky grass stains out.—
Brett F. Braley-Palko,
Forbes.com,
26 June 2025
Verb
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Nearly five years after a massive fire burned California’s oldest state park, Big Basin Redwoods, blackening groves of famous ancient redwoods and destroying all the campgrounds, the visitor center and other facilities, state parks officials have finalized a plan to rebuild.—
Paul Rogers,
Mercury News,
19 June 2025
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Lightning had struck a single ponderosa pine, blackening its trunk.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 June 2025
Verb
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And for nights when you can't be bothered to dirty a million dishes just to get dinner on the table, there's an air fryer from Ninja.—
Sarah Felbin,
SELF,
23 May 2025
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Crème Brûlée Steve Granitz Crème brûlée is like butter blonde, but dirtied up a bit for a browned, warm tint.—
Audrey Noble,
Vogue,
2 May 2025
Verb
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Their reputations were besmirched.—
The Editors,
National Review,
17 Dec. 2024
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Images illustrating the reality versus carefully edited Instagram selfies have somewhat besmirched Santorini’s romantic reputation of late.—
Helen Iatrou,
AFAR Media,
16 Dec. 2024
Verb
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The natural world may be past saving, particularly as a habitat for the species that has so utterly befouled it, and, yet, what else is there to do but keep on keeping on?—
Nick Paumgarten,
The New Yorker,
19 Feb. 2025
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Capitalism is degrading us, killing us and befouling our world.—
Philip Kennicott,
Washington Post,
8 June 2023
Cite this Entry
“Sully.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sully. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.
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