burnish
Americanverb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
burnishsimple
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burnishessimple
-
have burnishedperfect
-
has burnishedperfect
-
am burnishingprogressive
-
are burnishingprogressive
-
is burnishingprogressive
-
have been burnishingperfect progressive
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has been burnishingperfect progressive
Past
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burnishedsimple
-
had burnishedperfect
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was burnishingprogressive
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were burnishingprogressive
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had been burnishingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of burnish
1275–1325; Middle English burnissh < Anglo-French burniss-, Middle French bruniss- (long stem of burnir, brunir to darken, polish), equivalent to brun- brown + -iss- -ish 2
Explanation
That seductive gleam on that Porsche behind the dealer's window? It's called a burnish, a gloss only achieved by loads of polishing. Likewise, you can burnish a resume by polishing it until it's perfect. A caution about usage: burnish in the physical sense is usually reserved for inanimate objects, not people — you usually wouldn't say that someone's appearance is "burnished to perfection" or that your freshly scrubbed face is burnished. But you could burnish a car, a suit of armor, or a copper kettle. Reputations are among the most common non-physical things to be burnished.
Vocabulary lists containing burnish
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The Scarlet Letter
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Vocabulary from the Introduction to "Reality is Broken" by Jane McGonigal
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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.
See Examples For:
Zhang, who teaches students to race at a track on the outskirts of the city, hopes tourism will further burnish the city's biker reputation.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
These certifications might help a job-seeker burnish their skills and stand out.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
National chains are working to burnish their own burgers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
Clark said Anthropic's motivation for publicly discussing the growing capability of AI technology is not to further burnish its reputation with paying customers.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
I sensed her weakness and spent most of class coming up with creative ways to burnish my status as class clown.
From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore
A trade deal would be a huge relief but even without that, a US presidential visit after nearly a decade burnishes Xi's message – that China is open for business and to the world.
From BBC ● May 12, 2026
Brazil has approved the cultivation and sale of drought-tolerant genetically modified wheat, a major boost for the once taboo crop as global food supply fears and regional dry weather burnishes the lure of GMO.
From Reuters ● Mar. 4, 2023
Maher likes to process the world as it relates to him and burnishes his point of view.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2021
And it also burnishes his leadership at a time when people in Africa are clamoring for greater accountability from their leaders.
From New York Times ● May 27, 2021
See how that beetle burnishes in the path!
From Selections from the Poems and Plays of Robert Browning by Reynolds, Myra
His comfortable win, in a district where Reform won recent local elections, burnished his credentials as the right man to take on Farage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Initial public euphoria over Pakistan's image being burnished on the global stage has begun to give way to fraying patience after weeks of stop-start restrictions around Islamabad.
From Barron's ● Apr. 22, 2026
Mail-order catalogs such as the midcentury Sears, Roebuck Christmas edition overflowed with evocative shades—winterberry, burnished beige, rico green—meant to conjure a feeling as much as a hue.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
To many, the sight of Paul being clapped into cuffs may have even burnished her renegade image.
From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2026
There was a gleam of rubbed wood and burnished pewter.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
And all were endorsed by Zohran Mamdani, the city’s Democratic Socialist mayor, burnishing his kingmaker bona fides.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026
He understood the role of the press in communicating the Fed’s thinking and in burnishing his reputation.
From Barron's ● Feb. 27, 2026
Shares in Gucci-owner Kering gained more ground Thursday after sales at the fashion house beat expectations in the most recent quarter, lifting revenue at the parent group and burnishing hopes of a sustained turnaround.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025
It all percolates in the shadowy urban allure of Paul Guilhaume’s cinematography, especially as it plays across its leading ladies’ faces, turning skin into a mood palette, burnishing all the musical interludes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2024
I stood at the window to admire the sunlight slanting over the golf course, and burnishing the bare trees on the distant hills.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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.
