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Synonyms

bedaub

American  
[bih-dawb] / bɪˈdɔb /

verb (used with object)

  1. to smear all over; besmear; soil.

  2. to ornament gaudily or excessively.


bedaub British  
/ bɪˈdɔːb /

verb

  1. to smear all over with something thick, sticky, or dirty

  2. to ornament in a gaudy or vulgar fashion

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms


Etymology

Origin of bedaub

First recorded in 1545–55; be- + daub


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:

The relatives of the deceased bedaub themselves from head to foot with white clay, upon which they form the most disgusting figures, while scarcely a leg or an arm exhibits the same feature.

From Observations Upon the Windward Coast of Africa by Joseph Corry

Does any one bedaub his friends with flattery?

From The Deipnosophists, or Banquet of the Learned of Athen?us by Athen?us

Our pessimist frauds and the Ibsensite pack Will groan as they thickly bedaub it in black.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 105, November 11, 1893 by Various

Both Greeks and savages employ the bull-roarer, both bedaub the initiated with dirt or with white paint or chalk. 

From Custom and Myth by Andrew Lang

The women wear small ear-rings of silver, but use no paint, nor do they bedaub their persons with any sort of pigment.

From Lander's Travels The Travels of Richard Lander into the Interior of Africa by Robert Huish

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