besmear
Americanverb (used with object)
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to smear all over; bedaub.
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to sully; defile; soil.
to besmear someone's reputation.
verb
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to smear over; daub
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to sully; defile (often in the phrase besmear ( a person's ) reputation )
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of besmear
before 1050; Middle English bismeren, Old English besmerian. See be-, smear
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.
There is no arrogance so great as the proclaiming of other men's errors and faults, by those who understand nothing but the dregs of actions, and who make it their business to besmear deserving fames.
From Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry by Pike, Albert
On the four corners of the platform, large jars were placed, filled with melted butter, to besmear the pyramid, that it might be the more easily set on fire.
From Dr. Scudder's Tales for Little Readers, About the Heathen. by Scudder, Dr. John
“They are gentlemen, no matter how much you may wish to besmear them with low epithets.”
From The Squatter and the Don by Loyal, C.
He will as surely soil and besmear with sin your moral garments as would contact with the most filthy object imaginable your outer garments.
From Plain Facts for Old and Young by Kellogg, John Harvey
The modern harpies besmear every noble thought till it becomes unpalatable and nauseous; and thus must Clodwig wrestle and fight for the common daily bread of the spirit.
From Villa Eden: The Country-House on the Rhine by Auerbach, Berthold
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.
