daub
Americanverb (used with object)
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daubs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
daubed,
past participle, past
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daubing
present participle
-
to cover or coat with soft, adhesive matter, as plaster or mud.
to daub a canvas with paint; to daub stone walls with mud.
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to spread (plaster, mud, etc.) on or over something.
to daub plaster on a brick wall.
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to smear, soil, or defile.
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to apply, as paint or colors, unskillfully.
verb (used without object)
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daubs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
daubed,
past participle, past
-
daubing
present participle
-
to daub something.
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to paint unskillfully.
noun
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material, especially of an inferior kind, for daubing walls.
-
something daubed on.
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an act of daubing.
-
a crude, inartistic painting.
verb
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(tr) to smear or spread (paint, mud, etc), esp carelessly
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(tr) to cover or coat (with paint, plaster, etc) carelessly
-
to paint (a picture) clumsily or badly
noun
-
an unskilful or crude painting
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something daubed on, esp as a wall covering See also wattle and daub
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a smear (of paint, mud, etc)
-
the act of daubing
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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daubsimple
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daubssimple
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have daubedperfect
-
has daubedperfect
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am daubingprogressive
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are daubingprogressive
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is daubingprogressive
-
have been daubingperfect progressive
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has been daubingperfect progressive
Past
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daubedsimple
-
had daubedperfect
-
was daubingprogressive
-
were daubingprogressive
-
had been daubingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of daub
1275–1325; (v.) Middle English dauben < Anglo-French, Old French dauber to whiten, paint < Latin dealbāre, equivalent to de-, prevocalic variant of dē- de- + albāre to whiten, derivative of albus white; (noun) late Middle English, derivative of the v.
Explanation
Whenever you smear something on a surface, you are daubing. Abstract Expressionists may have been able to daub a canvas with paint and sell it for millions, but you probably wouldn’t be so lucky. Daub can be used as a verb or as a noun, and is derived from the Old French debaur which comes from the Latin dealbare “to whiten.” It is also used to describe the process of covering a surface with an adhesive substance such as plaster, mud or grease. However, in its noun form, it means a smear of something. When you are ordering "a bagel with a smear," you could impress the guy at the deli by asking for "a daub" instead.
Vocabulary lists containing daub
Stroke of Genius: Words About Painting
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The Odyssey
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"Daedalus and Icarus"
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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:
Each death is a daub of paint on a vast canvas, but for the bereaved, each opens up a gaping chasm of grief.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2023
Celebrants daub each other with vividly colored powders.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 15, 2022
There’s a daub of blue paint in one corner, which he squished into the surface over a background of very, very light colors, and he’s painted the word “photo” above it.
From New York Times ● Jan. 27, 2022
Who can “prove” that a painting by da Vinci is worth more than a daub by the most amateur painter?
From Washington Post ● Jan. 7, 2022
So many weeks we spent cutting trees, splitting clapboard, tying thatch, making wattle and daub.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
They are generally pleasant if bland landscapes, rendered in small, precise daubs of thick paint, and they begin to appear by the mid-1870s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2025
The algorithm-driven daubs of pastel color, although they never cohere into legible images, “explore the heritage of landscape painting,” he said.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 18, 2022
Amid the long-running protests, people playing the character increasingly use different color face paint, including daubs of soot.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 13, 2021
Chicago Tribune critic Blair Kamin at various times described the failed Lucas Museum in Chicago as “overly abstract and under-detailed,” “a giant lump,” a “science fair volcano” and “giant daubs of Marshmallow Fluff.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 2, 2020
In spite of their ready answers, the sport had been one-sided, as Kit could see by the daubs of mud that stained the rough boards of the stocks.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
Martine Letterie, one of the campaign's organisers, said concentration camps were increasingly the target of vandalism, including far-right imagery daubed on sites.
From Barron's ● Mar. 19, 2026
Taking her phone from her pocket she shows me pictures of the black and white IS flag, newly daubed on one of the walls of the camp.
From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2026
On the front steps, insults daubed in spray paint were directed at both Mayor Karen Bass and President Trump.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2025
With the campaign heading into the homestretch, Gluesenkamp Perez recently embarked on a RV tour of the 3rd Congressional District, down twisting two-lane roads, past farmland and forests daubed with red, yellow and orange.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2024
“I really didn’t see much,” she said as she daubed her face on her shirtsleeve.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
In May, it claimed responsibility for the daubing of a US military plane in Ireland.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2025
French prosecutors said earlier this week they were investigating whether two Moldovans who admitted to daubing Stars of David on the walls of Parisian properties did so at the behest of someone abroad.
From Reuters ● Nov. 9, 2023
Punishment was swiftly meted out for any public expression of Ukrainian patriotism — displaying a flag, singing a national ballad, daubing a bit of blue-and-yellow graffiti.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2022
After an initiation ritual that involves daubing blood on the screen of her laptop, she contributes videos to a growing body of lore purporting to document the game’s sinister consequences.
From New York Times ● Apr. 13, 2022
I wasn’t sure how he was going to get his boots back on, even after daubing the worst of the blisters with a paste made of baking soda.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
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