How to Use besmirch in a Sentence

besmirch

verb
  • While their results have improved in their third season, the Loons still feel besmirched.
    — Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 10 July 2019
  • Trump has focused on tourist-friendly areas being besmirched by crime.
    — Niall Stanage, The Hill, 11 Aug. 2025
  • The name of their club’s benefactor was, very clearly, being besmirched.
    — Rory Smith, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2023
  • But steady results eluded him and his final seasons at both schools were besmirched with losing records.
    — Rainer Sabin, Detroit Free Press, 12 Oct. 2019
  • Why does Brady besmirch himself by appearing on those airwaves in the first place?
    — Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, 30 Jan. 2018
  • Yet anyone concerned that the result might besmirch their memory of Heat can rest easy.
    — Clark Collis, EW.com, 9 Aug. 2022
  • The enemies of a strong Israel besmirch me, calling me and my party racist.
    — Benjamin Weinthal, Fox News, 9 Oct. 2022
  • The lack of awards buzz shouldn’t besmirch Amanda Seyfried’s performance here, though, which is great.
    — Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 23 Jan. 2026
  • Anyone who besmirches his sanctity is a heathen, a liar or—even worse—a Democrat.
    — Michael Harriot, The Root, 12 Feb. 2018
  • The eggs were fluffy, lacking any of the rubbery slop that besmirches lesser breakfast burritos.
    — Carolyn Burt, Oc Register, 1 Dec. 2025
  • Tomorrow there will be time enough for their credit to be besmirched by late payments or negative rental history.
    — Shannon Rooney, Philly.com, 7 Sep. 2017
  • How dare the Vikings fans besmirch our good names — what was left of them, anyway — with unfounded and spurious slanders.
    — Mike Newall, Philly.com, 18 Jan. 2018
  • Is there any beloved icon from childhood that filmmakers will not bloodily besmirch by turning into horror movies?
    — Clark Collis, EW.com, 8 Sep. 2023
  • When Andy Herrera grabbed the besmirched the croqueta, it was smeared in sugary, white frosting.
    — Carlos Frías, miamiherald, 19 Feb. 2018
  • Point here is not to besmirch the reputation of that 2012 Notre Dame team.
    — Gregg Doyel, Indianapolis Star, 28 Oct. 2017
  • And don’t worry about the movie retreading the same ground Johnny Depp besmirched — the film is rumored to be a prequel of some kind.
    — Ben Meyerson, RedEye Chicago, 15 June 2018
  • Then, 24 hours later, toothpaste decorates the basin; crumbs crunch underfoot; and grease splatters besmirch the stove.
    — Janet Sheridan, The Denver Post, 13 June 2017
  • With their reputations besmirched, their families despaired of finding them a suitor.
    — Stanley Stewart, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 July 2024
  • Eliade’s widow, in particular, loathed anyone who besmirched even the shadow of her husband’s legacy.
    — Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 15 Nov. 2023
  • Imagine allowing a breed of humanity as vulgar as actors (wink-wink) to besmirch their palace beautiful.
    — Justin Changfilm Critic, Los Angeles Times, 19 May 2022
  • This cynicism inevitably besmirches players, coaches, and referees who have no ties to gambling.
    — Danny Funt, New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2025
  • Of course, Fox News couldn't resist a dig at their rival network and its besmirched former personality.
    — Kaitlin Menza, Esquire, 1 Jan. 2018
  • But rumors that the film besmirched the Rajputs' honor did not die, egged on by leaders of a fringe group known as the Rajput Karni Sena.
    — Shashank Bengali, latimes.com, 25 Jan. 2018
  • All signs point to a future besmirched by the likes of Pablo Escobar, compared to whom the current combatants are harmless villagers.
    — WSJ, 14 Feb. 2019
  • For example, a few nitrogen atoms among a diamond’s millions of carbon atoms can make the rock appear yellow or brown, while blue diamonds have been besmirched with a few boron atoms.
    — Gemma Tarlach, Discover Magazine, 23 Mar. 2018
  • Australians pride themselves on their natural surroundings, and as, week after week, people emerge from a swim besmirched with ash or struggling to breathe, the sense of outrage and terror has grown.
    — Tim Flannery, The New York Review of Books, 16 Jan. 2020
  • For example, anyone who has lived in New York City is likely to have noticed the countless chewing gum stains that besmirch the city’s sidewalks.
    — Peter Debruge, Variety, 23 Jan. 2026
  • The current flag has long been disdained by nationalists who associate it with Putin, and more recently, it has been besmirched by the invasion of Ukraine.
    — Jade McGlynn, Foreign Affairs, 17 Aug. 2023
  • Famously, the British press conspired to draw the dramatist’s name through the mud, besmirching his literary legacy for generations to follow.
    — Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 20 Oct. 2025
  • Trump and others have suggested that keeling during the national anthem besmirches the sacrifice of members of the military.
    — Josh Bean, AL.com, 8 Oct. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'besmirch.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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