smudge

American  

[smuhj] / smʌdʒ /

noun

1. a dirty mark or smear.

2. a smeary state.

3. a stifling smoke.

4. a smoky fire, especially one made for driving away mosquitoes or safeguarding fruit trees from frost.

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verb (used with object)

smudged, smudging

1. to mark with dirty streaks or smears.

2. to fill with smudge, as to drive away insects or protect fruit trees from frost.

verb (used without object)

smudged, smudging

1. to form a smudge on something.

2. to become smudged.

   White shoes smudge easily.

3. to smolder or smoke; emit smoke, as a smudge pot.

smudge British  

/ smʌdʒ /

verb

1. to smear, blur, or soil or cause to do so

2. (tr) to fill (an area) with smoke in order to drive insects away or guard against frost

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noun

1. a smear or dirty mark

2. a blurred form or area

   that smudge in the distance is a quarry

3. a smoky fire for driving insects away or protecting fruit trees or plants from frost

Other Word Forms

• smudgedly
  adverb
• smudgeless
  adjective
• smudgily
  adverb
• unsmudged
  adjective

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.

Example Sentences

While we followed the police, we could see the boat – a thin black smudge on a milky sea – to our left.

From BBC • Jun. 17, 2025

I saw Trevor around the gym for months — scattered tattoos and black tank top with a cute smudge of climbing chalk on their ears.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 25, 2024

I got a few distant glimpses during the first few years I lived here, a gray-green smudge on the horizon.

From Slate • Oct. 16, 2024

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

I hold up the photo and put my finger on the glass, leaving my fingerprint in a smudge.

From "Hurricane Child" by Kheryn Callender

Related Words

• blacken
• daub
• spatter
• sully