smudge
Americannoun
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a dirty mark or smear.
-
a smeary state.
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a stifling smoke.
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a smoky fire, especially one made for driving away mosquitoes or safeguarding fruit trees from frost.
verb (used with object)
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to mark with dirty streaks or smears.
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to fill with smudge, as to drive away insects or protect fruit trees from frost.
verb (used without object)
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to form a smudge on something.
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to become smudged.
White shoes smudge easily.
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to smolder or smoke; emit smoke, as a smudge pot.
verb
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to smear, blur, or soil or cause to do so
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(tr) to fill (an area) with smoke in order to drive insects away or guard against frost
noun
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a smear or dirty mark
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a blurred form or area
that smudge in the distance is a quarry
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a smoky fire for driving insects away or protecting fruit trees or plants from frost
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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smudgesimple
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smudgessimple
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have smudgedperfect
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has smudgedperfect
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am smudgingprogressive
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are smudgingprogressive
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is smudgingprogressive
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have been smudgingperfect progressive
-
has been smudgingperfect progressive
Past
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smudgedsimple
-
had smudgedperfect
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was smudgingprogressive
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were smudgingprogressive
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had been smudgingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of smudge
1400–50; late Middle English smogen (v.) < ?
Explanation
When you smudge something, you smear or blur it in a messy way. If you smudge your sister's drawing after she worked so hard on it, she'll be furious. You might smudge dirt across your face when you wipe your nose after digging in the garden—and the dirty mark itself can also be called a smudge. Another kind of smudge is a smoky fire that can be used for several purposes: to disguise your location, to keep outdoor plants or trees warm, or to repel insects. The container in which a smudge is built is called a smudge pot.
Vocabulary lists containing smudge
List 7
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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:
The 22-year-old now runs his own business scrubbing every sheet metal curve and interior corner of a vehicle until there isn’t a smudge or crumb left.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
The hit was a small smudge on Bruins ace Taylor Tinsley’s line, finishing with two strikeouts and three hits across the five innings.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2026
“It’s right here,” glaciologist Alison Criscitiello says, pointing to a nearly invisible gray smudge behind the glass, on a 5-foot-long, 1,550-year-old bisected cylinder of ice.
From Slate ● May 8, 2026
At church services across the country, clergy members will smudge crosses on parishioners’ foreheads, murmuring, “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 14, 2024
“Let’s go home,” said Charles, wiping a muddy smudge off his cheek with the heel of his hand.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Little else was known about the 30-40 day moult, until Fretwell spotted large brown smudges in satellite pictures from 2019-2025.
From BBC ● Feb. 25, 2026
It’ll leave little silver smudges like a disappointing eyeshadow.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2025
If smudges in the sky are your thing, sure, fine.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2024
There are brushstrokes and smudges, as if the world were realized in pastels.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2024
Rolled-up sleeves and charcoal smudges on his nose and elbow, hair wild and raked through.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
Either way, the onetime roommates and bandmates pioneered a discomfiting broken-doll aesthetic of smudged eyeliner, smeared lipstick and plastic barrettes clipped to hanks of bleached-out hair.
From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2026
Heyward co-hosted a fundraiser with his wife last week where Pratt was smudged with sage before standing in front of a giant amethyst geode to address about 125 people.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
"Intensity mapping is like viewing the same scene through a smudged plane window: you get a blurrier picture, but you capture all the light and not just the brightest spots."
From Science Daily ● Mar. 8, 2026
Expect a lot of smudged mascara as the pair receive a send-off to remember.
From BBC ● Dec. 21, 2025
Her dress is loose on her, her hair is thin and wispy, her lipstick slightly smudged.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
The two women move around the room, burning herbs and shaking shamanic rattles while singing and chanting in a purification ritual known as "smudging".
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2025
If you want to continue smudging not all hope is lost.
From Salon ● Jan. 1, 2024
This pretty kit contains mountain sage, frankincense, myrrh and white copal resin; a Selenite stick; crystals and a palo santo stick for smudging.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 16, 2023
Researchers believe these early artists selected charcoal because it was the perfect medium, ideal for the smudging and blending techniques used in cave paintings.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 4, 2023
Then she smiled and brushed Sefia’s cheek, smudging her with dirt.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
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.
