Maximilien de Béthune Duc de, 1560–1641, French statesman.
Thomas, 1783–1872, U.S. painter, born in England.
a stain
the act of sullying
First recorded in 1585–95; origin uncertain
To sully is to attack someone's good name and to try to ruin his reputation. If you spread false rumors that there's chicken stock in the vegetarian entree at Joe's Diner, you would sully Joe's good reputation. Sully can also mean to tarnish or make spotty. It's easy to remember this meaning when you know that sully comes from the Middle French word souiller, meaning, "make dirty." For example, dripping chocolate sauce onto the table will sully your mother's new white tablecloth. Another meaning of sully is to corrupt or cast suspicion on. If an automaker recalls millions of vehicles due to safety problems, it doesn't exactly inspire confidence — in fact, it may sully their brand.
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Without fail, the miniature version of me would blubber at Sully the polka dot monster reuniting with Boo, and Marlin the clownfish traversing the ocean to find his son.
From Salon • Jun. 6, 2026
One of the competitors, Hailey Krahenbuhl, wrote on Facebook that her horse, Sully, was one of the horses injured in the attack.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2026
The movie once again stars Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington as Na'vi warrior Neytiri and ex-Marine Jake Sully, who must battle a new foe threatening their family's life on Pandora.
From Barron's • Dec. 21, 2025
She also appeared in several films, including Sully and Seabiscuit.
From BBC • May 31, 2025
Harry and Sully and Anton, walking toward him diagonally across the yard, Harry’s eyes on him, unsmiling but alert, his cronies looking happy in anticipation.
From "A Monster Calls" by Patrick Ness
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.
