Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for bedaub. Search instead for bedumbs.
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 men paint or bedaub their faces and breasts with a kind of red earth.

From The Captive in Patagonia by Benjamin Franklin Bourne

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

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

Does any one bedaub his friends with flattery?

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

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

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training