smudge
Americannoun
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a dirty mark or smear.
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a smeary state.
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a stifling smoke.
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a smoky fire, especially one made for driving away mosquitoes or safeguarding fruit trees from frost.
verb (used with object)
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to mark with dirty streaks or smears.
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to fill with smudge, as to drive away insects or protect fruit trees from frost.
verb (used without object)
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to form a smudge on something.
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to become smudged.
White shoes smudge easily.
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to smolder or smoke; emit smoke, as a smudge pot.
verb
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to smear, blur, or soil or cause to do so
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(tr) to fill (an area) with smoke in order to drive insects away or guard against frost
noun
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a smear or dirty mark
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a blurred form or area
that smudge in the distance is a quarry
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a smoky fire for driving insects away or protecting fruit trees or plants from frost
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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smudgesimple
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smudgessimple
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have smudgedperfect
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has smudgedperfect
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are smudgingprogressive
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am smudgingprogressive
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is smudgingprogressive
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have been smudgingperfect progressive
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has been smudgingperfect progressive
Past
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smudgedsimple
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had smudgedperfect
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was smudgingprogressive
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were smudgingprogressive
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had been smudgingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of smudge
1400–50; late Middle English smogen (v.) < ?
Explanation
When you smudge something, you smear or blur it in a messy way. If you smudge your sister's drawing after she worked so hard on it, she'll be furious. You might smudge dirt across your face when you wipe your nose after digging in the garden—and the dirty mark itself can also be called a smudge. Another kind of smudge is a smoky fire that can be used for several purposes: to disguise your location, to keep outdoor plants or trees warm, or to repel insects. The container in which a smudge is built is called a smudge pot.
Vocabulary lists containing smudge
List 7
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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.
"Me and Baz think Smudge could be an unbelievable white-ball opener," Brook said before the series.
From BBC • Jun. 3, 2025
Smudge pots, an oil-burning device historically used to keep frost off fruit trees, have been repurposed as light fixtures.
From Seattle Times • May 18, 2024
Gomez, who plays for the Riverside Smudge Pots, often arrives hours before game time to decorate the field located at the California School for the Deaf, Riverside.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 24, 2022
She has two kittens, Smudge and Marmalade, and they would like their peace and quiet back, too.
From Slate • Apr. 11, 2020
"Not my line o' work in the castle, Smudge."
From "The Whipping Boy" by Sid Fleischman
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.
