smear
Americanverb (used with object)
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smears,
present (3rd person singular)
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smeared,
past participle, past
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smearing
present participle
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to spread or daub (an oily, greasy, viscous, or wet substance) on or over something.
to smear butter on bread.
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to spread or daub an oily, greasy, viscous, or wet substance on.
to smear bread with butter.
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to stain, spot, or make dirty with something oily, greasy, viscous, or wet.
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to sully, vilify, or soil (a reputation, good name, etc.).
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to smudge or blur, as by rubbing.
The signature was smeared.
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Slang. to defeat decisively; overwhelm.
They smeared the home team.
noun
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smears
plural
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an oily, greasy, viscous, or wet substance, especially a dab of such a substance.
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a stain, spot, or mark made by such a substance.
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a smudge.
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something smeared or to be smeared on a thing, as a glaze for pottery.
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a small quantity of something spread thinly on a slide for microscopic examination.
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vilification.
a smear by a cheap gossip columnist.
verb
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to bedaub or cover with oil, grease, etc
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to rub over or apply thickly
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to rub so as to produce a smudge
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to slander
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slang to defeat completely
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(intr) to be or become smeared or dirtied
noun
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a dirty mark or smudge
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-
a slanderous attack
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( as modifier )
smear tactics
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-
a preparation of blood, secretions, etc, smeared onto a glass slide for examination under a microscope
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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smearsimple
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smearssimple
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have smearedperfect
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has smearedperfect
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am smearingprogressive
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are smearingprogressive
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is smearingprogressive
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have been smearingperfect progressive
-
has been smearingperfect progressive
Past
-
smearedsimple
-
had smearedperfect
-
was smearingprogressive
-
were smearingprogressive
-
had been smearingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of smear
before 900; (v.) Middle English smeren, smirien to rub with fat, anoint, Old English smirian, smerian, smerwan; cognate with Dutch smeren, German schmieren, Old Norse smyrja, smyrwa; (noun) in current senses derivative of the v.; compare obsolete smear fat, grease, ointment, Middle English smere, Old English smeoru, cognate with Dutch smear, German Schmer, Old Norse smjǫr grease, Greek smýris rubbing powder; see emery
Explanation
To smear something is to smudge or blur it. You might literally smear your pen-and-ink drawing, or figuratively have your reputation smeared by getting caught in a lie. You can also smear things physically by smoothing them onto another surface, like when you smear lip balm on your mouth or smear cream cheese on your bagel. When you smear a person, however, you cause them real harm by hurting their reputation badly. A politician might smear an opponent by falsely claiming they lied about where they went to college, for example. That kind of smear can be hard to erase.
Vocabulary lists containing smear
"Skins" and "Nicole"
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Old Yeller
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"The Ugly One," Vocabulary from Chapters 1-5
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
They can take a generous smear of sauce, withstand several hours of compression and still emerge recognizably bread-shaped.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
A trio of rulings on Thursday refute this smear.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
So, in spite of O’Leary’s concerted efforts to smear the protesters as “proxies” for the Chinese government, and to dismiss opposing arguments as “poo-poo,” Utah politicians sound quite different right now.
From Slate ● Jun. 1, 2026
Atletico Madrid aimed the mocking dig at La Liga rivals Barcelona over their "smear campaign" in pursuit of Julian Alvarez.
From BBC ● May 29, 2026
Henry rubbed at his jaw, leaving a smear of grease.
From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
Researchers gently rub the parchment with a dry cytology brush, the same type of brush used for Pap smears.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
In an Instagram video, external, Sawalha said she had become "the target of an escalating campaign of smears, complaints, hostile media coverage and targeted calls to have me removed from Loose Women".
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
She tears into a warm baguette, smears it with chèvre and hands him a piece.
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026
HPV tests and Pap smears are critical tools to diagnose patients who might have an infection.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 5, 2026
And I can see some smears on the mirror—it's my spit, not invisible now.
From "Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements
Lean and wet and smeared with grass, he introduces himself as Lincoln Hedberg from New Jersey.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026
One group inflated a giant disco ball, while another smeared themselves with body paint next to a line of rehearsing dancers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2026
Kyle Jamieson smeared three sixes in his unbeaten 38 and was left stranded when Robinson bowled Henry for his fourth Test five-for.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
Often smeared on hot buttered toast, it tastes like a fishy, peppery paté, befitting the mock Latin name Osborn gave to it, Patum Peperium.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
Her face is really puffy and shiny; it looks like someone smeared Vaseline under her eyes.
From "Boy21" by Matthew Quick
Ramos said the audio was about smearing his work, adding "no Mexican authority took responsibility for that audio."
From Barron's ● May 14, 2026
He held a press conference outside his law office a few blocks away as rain fell, smearing reporters’ notes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
Years later, on the New York punk music circuit, she switched to eyeliner, because she loved getting sweaty and smearing the black streaks down her face.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 2, 2025
Writing for the London Evening Standard one TV critic accused Big Brother's top executive Peter Bazalgette of "smearing excrement over our screens".
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2025
It leaked in through the heavy drapes, smearing itself across the room in thick lines.
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
