as in stain
a mark of guilt or disgrace
corruption charges that were a smirch on her reputation
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to stain
to make dirty
their clothes were smirched by dust from the trail
Synonyms & Similar Words
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
Noun
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Allow it to air-dry and repeat until the stain is gone.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 22 Jan. 2025
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The dining table, dotted with water stains, remained.—
Verb
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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.—
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Hands blackened from picking through the rubble of what was left of his home camp.—
Verb
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My neighbor invited me to dinner, then humiliated me in front of the other women Miss Manners: Strangers keep telling me distressing stories.—
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The Ravens, particularly bruising runner Derrick Henry, humiliated the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday night.—
Noun
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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.—
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But their chances of finding employment or a project or business to invest in remain slim, owing to their citizenship and the taint of the Russian corporate world.—
Verb
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Instead of dirtying a larger pot for your supporting dishes, this quaint cooker will come in handy for quick (or slower simmering) concoctions while matching your kitchen atmosphere.—
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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.—
Verb
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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.—
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The AfD has strongly rejected the designation, portraying it as a political attempt to discredit the party.—
Noun
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Unfair to ex-felons One of the worst blots on Bondi’s résumé was one of her first acts as attorney general.—
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Red Wine or Dark-Colored Food Stains As quickly as possible, lift away any solids and blot, blot, blot away the moisture.—
Verb
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Images illustrating the reality versus carefully edited Instagram selfies have somewhat besmirched Santorini’s romantic reputation of late.—
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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.—
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Thesaurus Entries Near smirch
Cite this Entry
“Smirch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smirch. Accessed 29 Jan. 2025.
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