smear

[smeer]

verb (used with object)

1. to spread or daub (an oily, greasy, viscous, or wet substance) on or over something.

   to smear butter on bread.

2. to spread or daub an oily, greasy, viscous, or wet substance on.

   to smear bread with butter.

3. to stain, spot, or make dirty with something oily, greasy, viscous, or wet.

4. to sully, vilify, or soil (a reputation, good name, etc.).

5. to smudge or blur, as by rubbing.

   The signature was smeared.

6. Slang.,  to defeat decisively; overwhelm.

   They smeared the home team.

noun

1. an oily, greasy, viscous, or wet substance, especially a dab of such a substance.

2. a stain, spot, or mark made by such a substance.

3. a smudge.

4. something smeared or to be smeared on a thing, as a glaze for pottery.

5. a small quantity of something spread thinly on a slide for microscopic examination.

6. vilification.

   a smear by a cheap gossip columnist.

smear

/ smɪə /

verb

1. to bedaub or cover with oil, grease, etc

2. to rub over or apply thickly

3. to rub so as to produce a smudge

4. to slander

5. slang,  to defeat completely

6. (intr) to be or become smeared or dirtied

noun

1. a dirty mark or smudge

2. 1. a slanderous attack

   2. ( as modifier )

      smear tactics

3. a preparation of blood, secretions, etc, smeared onto a glass slide for examination under a microscope

Other Word Forms

• smearer noun
• unsmeared adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of smear¹

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; emery

Word History and Origins

Origin of smear¹

Old English smeoru (n); related to Old Norse smjör fat, Old High German smero, Greek muron ointment

Example Sentences

Schmidt’s attorneys have called her legal filings a “blatant abuse of the judicial system” and a “transparent hit piece intended to smear and defame” Schmidt, according to court records.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"We fully expect these cynical attempts to smear Reform and mislead the public to intensify further as we move closer to the next election," he added.

Read more on Barron's

On his second day as chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department, Jaime Moore criticized what he called media efforts to “smear” firefighters who responded to the worst wildfire in city history.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

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.

Read more on Literature

"Wicked: For Good" picks up several years after the first "Wicked," with Cynthia Erivo's Elphaba now living as a rebel in exile, unfairly smeared by all as an evil witch.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• besmirch 
• blur 
• coat 
• dab 
• daub 
• plaster 
• smudge 
• spatter 
• spray 
• sprinkle 
• stain 
• sully 
• taint 
• tar 
• tarnish