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
-
to spread or daub (an oily, greasy, viscous, or wet substance) on or over something.
to smear butter on bread.
-
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.
-
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
-
a dirty mark or smudge
-
-
a slanderous attack
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( as modifier )
smear tactics
-
-
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
-
am smearingprogressive
-
are smearingprogressive
-
is smearingprogressive
-
have been smearingperfect progressive
-
has been smearingperfect progressive
Past
-
smearedsimple
-
had smearedperfect
-
was smearingprogressive
-
were smearingprogressive
-
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:
Beijing's foreign ministry said while it was not aware of the specifics of his case, "we have always opposed any slander and smear directed at China".
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
Beijing said it consistently abides by international rules and opposes “attempts to smear China by associating it with the conflict.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
The congresswoman added that her relationship with the president is “100% professional,” and that any suggestion otherwise is an attempt to smear her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
Piker, who has said he was raised Muslim but is non-practicing, called himself a victim of a "coordinated smear campaign" and Islamophobia.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
The page is a little damp and has a smear of something orange on it.
From "The One and Only Ivan" by Katherine Applegate
Speaking outside court, Ali said: "The harm is already done. The smears leave their stench, even when proven to be false."
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
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
She tears into a warm baguette, smears it with chèvre and hands him a piece.
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026
Doctors typically swab a patient’s cervix in clinical settings to test for high-risk strains of the human papillomavirus, an infection that can cause cancer when left untreated, through Pap smears and HPV testing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 5, 2026
I look down and the ground smears beneath me, all gray and white and black, glass and pavement and steel.
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
We ate thick slices with cold salted butter — not so much smeared across the crumb as laid on in pale slabs, because patience has never been a prerequisite for breakfast.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026
Capitol smeared with the ashes of an American flag.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
Lean and wet and smeared with grass, he introduces himself as Lincoln Hedberg from New Jersey.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026
This included an empty can of energy drink left in the middle of the floor of a clean delivery room - as well as butter "smeared around the top of a birthing pool".
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026
He didn't know what the yellow soft thing they smeared on the toast was, because in Calormen you nearly always get oil instead of butter.
From "The Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis
Exiled Tibetans and advocacy groups have accused China of heavily underreporting the death toll from devastating flooding in border regions with Nepal, claims Beijing rejected as "malicious smearing and sensationalism".
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 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
In the post he also accused other media outlets or TV programmes of "smearing" him through "a highly sophisticated system of document and visual alteration".
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2025
I said the next morning, smearing some cream cheese on my bagel.
From "Wonder" by R. J. Palacio
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
