smirch

American  

[smurch] / smɜrtʃ /

verb (used with object)

1. to discolor or soil; spot or smudge with or as with soot, dust, dirt, etc.

   Synonyms:

   dirty, smut, smear

   Antonyms:

   clean

2. to sully or tarnish (a person, reputation, character, etc.); disgrace; discredit.

   Synonyms:

   blot, taint

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noun

1. a dirty mark or smear, as of soot, dust, dirt, etc.

   Synonyms:

   smutch, smut, smudge

2. a stain or blot, as on reputation.

   Synonyms:

   taint

smirch British  

/ smɜːtʃ /

verb

1. to dirty; soil

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noun

1. the act of smirching or state of being smirched

2. a smear or stain

Other Word Forms

• smircher noun
• smirchless adjective
• unsmirched adjective

Etymology

Origin of smirch

First recorded in 1485–95; origin uncertain

Example Sentences

What they found was a mostly well-run exercise in civic duty, slightly smirched by honest mistakes quickly rectified — and then buried in an avalanche of fantasy, fever dreams, grifter fiction and “blatherskite.”

From Washington Post

Coarse black pepper coats the smirched bark; a thin garnet ring loops just underneath the surface.

From Los Angeles Times

Cohn would not scruple over the smirching of reputations.

From Washington Post

This was an assembly of delegates eager to feel their own Trump loyalty reflected, acknowledged, and cheered—polished clean of any Cruz smirches.

From The New Yorker

"It's a smirch that never goes away.... If you dedicated yourself to serving the good, how would you cope with that?"

From Los Angeles Times