smirch 1 of 2

noun

Definition of smirchnext
as in stain
a mark of guilt or disgrace corruption charges that were a smirch on her reputation

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

smirch

2 of 2

verb

ˈsmərch How to pronounce smirch (audio)
1
as in to stain
to make dirty their clothes were smirched by dust from the trail

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to humiliate
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

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for smirch
  1. stain
  2. blacken
  3. humiliate
  4. taint
  5. dirty
  6. discredit
  7. blot
  8. besmirch
Noun
  • This mat also held up to pet stains—after tossing it in the wash, there was no change in appearance or texture.
    Moriah Mason, Southern Living, 10 Jan. 2025
  • There, on the white ticking, was a deep red stain—stretching across three or four feet.
    Ian Frisch, Curbed, 9 Jan. 2025
Definition of stain
Verb
  • The Eaton fire, which started after the Palisades blaze in the Altadena area, has blackened more than 14,000 acres, destroyed or damaged 7,000 homes and other structures, and killed 17 people, officials say.
    Paul Pringle, Los Angeles Times, 15 Jan. 2025
  • Hands blackened from picking through the rubble of what was left of his home camp.
    Will Carless, USA TODAY, 12 Jan. 2025
Definition of blacken
Verb
  • Illinois has the seventh-highest scoring offense in Division I, but was humiliated to 29 percent shooting, and the otherwise-excellent Kasparas Jakučionis had more turnovers (seven) than made baskets (five, on 15 tries).
    Steven Louis Goldstein, The Athletic, 8 Jan. 2025
  • Over several years, victims were beaten, threatened and humiliated, while perpetrators befriended parents to screen them from the systemic abuse.
    Dan Perry, Newsweek, 4 Jan. 2025
Definition of humiliate
Noun
  • Wexler regrets one thing: that his campaign had no time to check on who was behind the Noise Pollution Action Fund, as the press did so quickly after he was endorsed — too late in the campaign for Wexler to escape the taint.
    Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 8 Jan. 2025
  • The sordid origin story of infidelity that explains Elphaba’s birth and dysfunctional family taints everything that follows.
    Armond White, National Review, 27 Nov. 2024
Definition of taint
Verb
  • Having dirtied himself in the catacombs beneath the papacy’s home, our scrappy archaeologist emerges into none other than a resplendent re-creation of the Sistine Chapel.
    Lewis Gordon, Vulture, 18 Dec. 2024
  • Arizona Republic Cool weather and the holiday season may seem like the perfect excuse to cozy up by the fire, but too many blazing yule logs can dirty the air and put some of your neighbors at risk.
    Hayleigh Evans, The Arizona Republic, 16 Dec. 2024
Definition of dirty
Verb
  • Beyond her work as a lobbyist, Bondi solidified her reputation as a Trump loyalist by defending him on the floor of the Senate during his first impeachment and helping his efforts to discredit the 2020 election results.
    Peter Charalambous, ABC News, 15 Jan. 2025
  • The AfD has strongly rejected the designation, portraying it as a political attempt to discredit the party.
    Vanessa Gera, Los Angeles Times, 9 Jan. 2025
Definition of discredit
Noun
  • Red Wine or Dark-Colored Food Stains As quickly as possible, lift away any solids and blot, blot, blot away the moisture.
    Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 28 Oct. 2024
  • For coffee stains on carpet, blot the spill first to soak up as much liquid as possible.
    Jessica Bennett, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 Dec. 2024
Definition of blot
Verb
  • 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
  • There’s a new promo picture going around showing a Dusty Milligan with facial hair (see: above) — and listen, not to besmirch his infinity-pool jawline, but the dude looks so much better with that scruff.
    Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 8 Nov. 2024
Definition of besmirch
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.

Thesaurus Entries Near smirch

smilingly

smirch

smirched

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Cite this Entry

“Smirch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smirch. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.

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