Synonyms of tarnished

tarnished 1 of 2

adjective

as in unpolished

Related Words

• unpolished
• lusterless
• dulled
• dingy
• dim
• lackluster
• drab
• muddy
• matte
• dull
• cloudy
• darkened
• gray
• pale
• dirty
• mousy
• obscured
• leaden
• dimmed
• flat
• dusky
• gloomy
• obscure
• black
• somber
• darkish
• palish
• murky
• dark
• pitch-black
• pitch-dark
• stygian
• tenebrous
• tenebrific

Dissimilar Words

• shiny
• rubbed
• glossy
• burnished
• lustrous
• sleek
• polished
• lacquered
• varnished
• glazed
• satin
• shining
• silky
• satiny
• silken
• gleaming
• buffed
• slippery
• slick
• shellacked
• sparkling
• glistening
• brilliant
• shimmering
• bright
• dazzling
• luminous
• radiant
• incandescent
• resplendent
• twinkling
• glowing
• effulgent
• lucid
• lucent
• lambent
• glittering
• glinting
• glimmering
• brightened
• gemmy
• refulgent
• scintillating
• beaming
• fulgent
• bedazzling
• candescent

tarnished

2 of 2

verb

past tense of tarnish

as in marred

to affect slightly with something morally bad or undesirable

a false accusation that nonetheless tarnished her reputation

Synonyms & Similar Words

• marred
• tainted
• stained
• poisoned
• spoiled
• darkened
• touched
• discredited
• distorted
• degraded
• blemished
• blackened
• smeared
• sullied
• lowered
• vitiated
• corrupted
• polluted
• soiled
• blurred
• disgraced
• discolored
• clouded
• smudged
• besmirched
• tarred
• dishonored
• shamed
• dirtied
• debased
• perverted
• smirched
• demeaned
• cheapened
• begrimed
• sank
• subverted
• besmeared
• twisted
• colored
• debauched
• smutted
• depraved
• fouled
• demoralized
• abased
• bastardized

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• purified
• cleansed
• elevated
• magnified
• enshrined
• dignified
• glorified
• uplifted
• ennobled
• hallowed

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of tarnished

Adjective

So, if perception is reality, Quinn is going to have to rehabilitate his increasingly tarnished reputation as a sideline game manager. — Armando Salguero Outkick, FOXNews.com, 20 Oct. 2026

Silver itself can’t be permanently tarnished since tarnish is not corrosive and can be removed. — Daley Quinn, Southern Living, 29 Sep. 2026

Taking shots at the left is one way that Democrats are trying to distance themselves from their party's tarnished brand. — ABC News, 23 Sep. 2026

The Pierre was a gem, but a tarnished one after 96 summers and thousands of guests. — Noah Shachtman, Vanity Fair, 25 Aug. 2026

Her lower back had ached during dinner, and, sure enough, there was the tarnished rust of her period in her underwear. — Madhuri Vijay, New Yorker, 16 Aug. 2026

As the New York Times reports, Gates is seemingly pulling out all the stops to rescue his tarnished brand, a fall from grace that’s putting his $89 billion global health fund, the Gates Foundation, in jeopardy. — Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 11 June 2026

From a low-security prison in California, the former Democratic megadonor has been seeking to reshape his tarnished image while making public declarations in support of the president. — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 9 June 2026

The Golden State’s reputation for its business climate is a bit tarnished. — Doug McCauley, Oc Register, 27 May 2026

Verb

Mountbatten-Windsor’s reputation has been tarnished by his relationship with Epstein ever since 2008, when the wealthy American financier pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution. — Danica Kirka, Los Angeles Times, 31 Oct. 2026

That revelation, for many California leaders who looked to Huerta as a mentor, enshrined her legacy as an advocate for gender and labor equity at a moment that tarnished the UFW’s. — Andrew Graham, Sacbee.com, 28 Oct. 2026

How the Democratic brand tarnished Montana has not usually been thought of as a swing state in recent years. — Sam Gringlas, NPR, 20 Oct. 2026

Major financial firms like Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo stopped participating in the company’s lucrative rankings of wealth advisers for fear of being tarnished by association. — Benjamin Mullin, New York Times, 15 Oct. 2026

The wars severely tarnished the United States’ global reputation and left a generation of Americans skeptical that the country could be a force for good in the world. — Philip H. Gordon, Foreign Affairs, 12 Oct. 2026

Inevitably, Kreutzer’s film was tarnished by association and even withdrawn from some cinemas. — Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 10 Oct. 2026

But in some recent years the revelries have been tarnished by shootings and stabbings. — John Annese, New York Daily News, 7 Sep. 2026

In June, Marius Borg Høiby, 29, was sentenced to four years in prison after being found guilty of rape and domestic violence after a seven-week trial that further tarnished the family’s reputation. — Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2026