smear
Americanverb (used with object)
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smears,
present (3rd person singular)
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smeared,
past participle, past
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smearing
present participle
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to spread or daub (an oily, greasy, viscous, or wet substance) on or over something.
to smear butter on bread.
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to spread or daub an oily, greasy, viscous, or wet substance on.
to smear bread with butter.
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to stain, spot, or make dirty with something oily, greasy, viscous, or wet.
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to sully, vilify, or soil (a reputation, good name, etc.).
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to smudge or blur, as by rubbing.
The signature was smeared.
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Slang. to defeat decisively; overwhelm.
They smeared the home team.
noun
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smears
plural
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an oily, greasy, viscous, or wet substance, especially a dab of such a substance.
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a stain, spot, or mark made by such a substance.
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a smudge.
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something smeared or to be smeared on a thing, as a glaze for pottery.
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a small quantity of something spread thinly on a slide for microscopic examination.
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vilification.
a smear by a cheap gossip columnist.
verb
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to bedaub or cover with oil, grease, etc
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to rub over or apply thickly
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to rub so as to produce a smudge
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to slander
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slang to defeat completely
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(intr) to be or become smeared or dirtied
noun
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a dirty mark or smudge
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a slanderous attack
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( as modifier )
smear tactics
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-
a preparation of blood, secretions, etc, smeared onto a glass slide for examination under a microscope
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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smearsimple
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smearssimple
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have smearedperfect
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has smearedperfect
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am smearingprogressive
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are smearingprogressive
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is smearingprogressive
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have been smearingperfect progressive
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has been smearingperfect progressive
Past
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smearedsimple
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had smearedperfect
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was smearingprogressive
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were smearingprogressive
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had been smearingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of smear
before 900; (v.) Middle English smeren, smirien to rub with fat, anoint, Old English smirian, smerian, smerwan; cognate with Dutch smeren, German schmieren, Old Norse smyrja, smyrwa; (noun) in current senses derivative of the v.; compare obsolete smear fat, grease, ointment, Middle English smere, Old English smeoru, cognate with Dutch smear, German Schmer, Old Norse smjǫr grease, Greek smýris rubbing powder; see emery
Explanation
To smear something is to smudge or blur it. You might literally smear your pen-and-ink drawing, or figuratively have your reputation smeared by getting caught in a lie. You can also smear things physically by smoothing them onto another surface, like when you smear lip balm on your mouth or smear cream cheese on your bagel. When you smear a person, however, you cause them real harm by hurting their reputation badly. A politician might smear an opponent by falsely claiming they lied about where they went to college, for example. That kind of smear can be hard to erase.
Vocabulary lists containing smear
"Skins" and "Nicole"
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Old Yeller
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"The Ugly One," Vocabulary from Chapters 1-5
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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:
Even Leo Stein, the American expatriate proponent of avant-garde art, called it “brilliant and powerful, but the nastiest smear of paint I had ever seen.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
Enjoy warm with a smear of jam or your favorite fruit preserves.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said the French government had asked Israel for an explanation on BlackCore's actions, but also for help trying to find out who may have been behind the smear campaign.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
So, in spite of O’Leary’s concerted efforts to smear the protesters as “proxies” for the Chinese government, and to dismiss opposing arguments as “poo-poo,” Utah politicians sound quite different right now.
From Slate ● Jun. 1, 2026
When I go to the bathroom, I see a smear of reddish brown on my underwear.
From "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter" by Erika L. Sánchez
Researchers gently rub the parchment with a dry cytology brush, the same type of brush used for Pap smears.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
“I was just trying to get through a tray at a time,” she says, “but there were layers of smears that had come in overnight.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
She tears into a warm baguette, smears it with chèvre and hands him a piece.
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026
So when Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen asked him about the Atlantic’s recent report regarding his alleged drinking on the job, Patel leapt at Van Hollen with a set of smears.
From Slate ● May 16, 2026
The ink had run; the text, where it survived, was written in enigmatic verse, and the centerfold map was almost completely obscured with smears and blotchy stains.
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
Lean and wet and smeared with grass, he introduces himself as Lincoln Hedberg from New Jersey.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026
Kyle Jamieson smeared three sixes in his unbeaten 38 and was left stranded when Robinson bowled Henry for his fourth Test five-for.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
Often smeared on hot buttered toast, it tastes like a fishy, peppery paté, befitting the mock Latin name Osborn gave to it, Patum Peperium.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
“It almost looks like Cheeto dust,” she said, “like somebody had Cheetos on their fingers and just smeared it on the landscape.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026
Mother smeared the salve over Dad’s upper body twice a day.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
Ramos said the audio was about smearing his work, adding "no Mexican authority took responsibility for that audio."
From Barron's ● May 14, 2026
He held a press conference outside his law office a few blocks away as rain fell, smearing reporters’ notes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
Years later, on the New York punk music circuit, she switched to eyeliner, because she loved getting sweaty and smearing the black streaks down her face.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 2, 2025
His ill-fated attempt to unmask a whistleblower he thought was smearing an old colleague, was seen by some – but not all – as evidence of fierce loyalty to his own troops.
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2025
You could get the magnet to start working again by smearing it with goat’s blood.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
