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
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Behind the statue of the patroness is a mural painted by Teok Carrasco, a native of Nipe, where the original statue was found.—
Lauren Costantino,
Miami Herald,
10 Sep. 2025
-
People’s garages are painted with surfers.—
Carlos Rico,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Those are coated in Ghost Pepper dry rub.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
16 Sep. 2025
-
The Blue Ribbon Apple Pie Doughnut comes with an apple cinnamon filling, caramel icing, cinnamon cookie crumbs and white drizzle, while the Caramel Churro Doughnut is coated in cinnamon sugar and topped with caramel icing.—
Moná Thomas,
PEOPLE,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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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
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An excessive force lawsuit against a former San Jose cop disgraced by a racist texting scandal is set to resume, after a federal court ruling last week affirmed the ex-officer is not shielded from litigation in his controversial 2022 shooting of an aspiring college football player.—
Robert Salonga,
Mercury News,
16 Sep. 2025
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The District 7 race for disgraced former Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson’s seat is likely headed for a recount, with third-place finisher Mavrick Afonso making a formal request Monday based on his narrow 20-vote defeat.—
Gayla Cawley,
Boston Herald,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
All that to be humiliated in the Orlando bubble?—
Mirjam Swanson,
Oc Register,
4 Sep. 2025
-
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
Verb
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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
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Inside the retro-futuristic Discoveryland area of Disneyland Paris, a full-size Star Wars X-Wing fighter sits on a silver and blue platform which looks like it has been weathered and stained from battles.—
Caroline Reid,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
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Doing some research on other things my car needs (truly the theme for this week) and decide a seat cover would be good, since it’s been stained a bit with annoying food spills.—
R29 Team,
Refinery29,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The dam broke Saturday night for the Dodgers’ maligned offense, even with Logan Webb pitching.—
Fabian Ardaya,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
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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
Cite this Entry
“Smeared.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smeared. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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