tarred

verb

past tense of tar
as in smeared

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for tarred
  1. smeared
  2. soiled
  3. sullied
  4. polluted
  5. tarnished
  6. blackened
  7. smudged
  8. tainted
Verb
  • Sweat glistened on the white foundation smeared across her face.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026
  • One prank involved Quan, Capshaw, and Harrison Ford surprising Spielberg with ice cream smeared all over their faces for one take.
    — Marina Watts, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of smeared
Verb
  • Heavily soiled laundry like muddy workwear can also benefit from warmer water.
    — Ryan Brennan, Charlotte Observer, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Three boxes of fries were found on the floor in the walk-in cooler, soiled with a mixture of water and raw chicken juice.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of soiled
Verb
  • Shortly after Palace’s next match had finished, a defeat by Everton on the opening weekend of the new season, his reputation among the supporters had been sullied again.
    — Matt Woosnam, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Such shenanigans are more or less expected, and certainly haven’t forever sullied the American soccer fan base, at least here at home.
    — Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 7 July 2026
Definition of sullied
Verb
  • In a world riven by democratic backsliding and polluted with AI slop, there’s something seductive about the idea of retreating to a wild, unnavigable place where no one can follow you—because you’ll be submerged up to your eyeballs.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026
  • In the northern part of the district, the waterfront is polluted by ships.
    — Jemma Stephenson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of polluted
Verb
  • 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
Definition of tarnished
Verb
  • The shrinking process had exaggerated some features, vanished others, and blackened the flesh.
    — Daniel Barnum, Longreads, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Footage shot later at daybreak showed the house gutted, charred and blackened from the inside out.
    — Zeena Saifi, CNN Money, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of blackened
Verb
  • Rather than a hard, graphic line, her makeup artist smudged burgundy tones under the lower lashes.
    — Marci Robin, Allure, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Even the more dramatic elements like dark liner and smoky eyes are showing up smudged and diffused.
    — Ashley Lynch, Sacbee.com, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of smudged
Verb
  • That means if the sewage system backs up, the sink could be tainted.
    — David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Hahn told the Observer in 2020 that the scandal tainted televangelism broadly.
    — Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of tainted
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.

Browse Nearby Words

tarns
tarred
tarried
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Cite this Entry

“Tarred.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tarred. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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