BESMIRCHED Synonyms: 145 Similar and Opposite Words

besmirched 1 of 2

adjective

as in stained

not clean wiped the toddler's besmirched face with a damp cloth

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

besmirched

2 of 2

verb

past tense of besmirch

as in blackened

to make dirty inconsiderately besmirched the carpet with their dirty feet

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of besmirched

Verb

Our nation’s capital is besmirched, on his say-so, with signs and banners bearing his likeness and name. — Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Aug. 2026 Bryna Laub, editor of Daytime Serial Newsletter, felt the show besmirched the sanctity of soaps and contributed to the broader currents of shame surrounding the genre. — Literary Hub, 18 May 2026 And thus one of the more wholesome and fun events in the White House calendar was besmirched by a man who simply cannot stop with the zero-sum partisan nonsense even when surrounded by impressionable young faces. — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 8 Apr. 2026 Trump has focused on tourist-friendly areas being besmirched by crime. — Niall Stanage, The Hill, 11 Aug. 2025 These hardy souls, largely indifferent to political and economic turbulence, were the mainstay of the tourist economy during the civil war that besmirched the lives of an entire generation from the 1980s on. — Chandrahas Choudhury, Condé Nast Traveler, 1 Mar. 2024

Recent Examples of Synonyms for besmirched

Adjective

Luckily the damage appears to be mostly cosmetic, and the beautiful balustrades, stained glass, and mahogany built-ins have survived the makeover unscathed.

— Nora DeLigter, Curbed, 23 Oct. 2026
While stained glass does have a residential history—Frank Lloyd Wright in particular was known for incorporating art glass in projects—these colorful windows most often have religious connotations.

— Kelsey Mulvey, Architectural Digest, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of stained

Verb

As the balloon and its occupants fell to the ground, the nylon envelope and the gondola separated, and the wreckage scattered over a roughly 100-yard area, parts of it blackened by the explosion and resulting fire.

— Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 21 Oct. 2026
The shrinking process had exaggerated some features, vanished others, and blackened the flesh.

— Daniel Barnum, Longreads, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of blackened

Verb

When stormwater dirtied by road runoff, failing septic tanks and fertilizer sullied crystal-clear rivers and lakes, and nobody cared.

— Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 Jan. 2026
Garments can be dirtied again by the elements if air-dried outside.

— Mary Cornetta, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Dec. 2025

Definition of dirtied

Adjective

Living room furniture does not stand a chance against a shedding dog, a muddy paw or a cat with strong opinions about upholstery.

— Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Oct. 2026
On muddy gravel between the smokestacks and the water, a forklift held what looked like an enormous sack of sand.

— Alec Luhn, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of muddy

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

Adjective

The state was apportioned a bare 300,000 acre-feet a year in 1928, when Las Vegas was merely a dusty outpost miles from the Hoover Dam construction site.

— Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026
On July 2, 2025, a burst with energy equivalent to 1,000 suns blazing for 10 billion years lit up Fermi’s detectors, heading from a dusty galaxy about eight billion light-years from Earth.

— Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of dusty

Adjective

In the world of sports broadcasting, ESPN and Buck did Aikman dirty.

— Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 Oct. 2026
Now Gizelle has to decide whether that person is her longtime friend in real life or the woman who has spent the past several seasons doing much of her dirty work.

— Shamira Ibrahim, Vulture, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of dirty

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“Besmirched.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/besmirched. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of besmirched

adjective

verb

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