smutch
Americanverb (used with object)
noun
-
a smudge or stain.
-
dirt, grime, or smut.
verb
noun
-
a mark; smudge
-
soot; dirt
Other Word Forms
- smutchless adjective
- smutchy adjective
- unsmutched adjective
Etymology
Origin of smutch
1520–30; perhaps < Middle High German smutzen to smear; compare German Schmutz smut
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.
She hadn’t done anything to me, and the smutch of the mud against her blue gown — the prettiest dress I ever saw.
From Literature
In his address to the courteous reader he expresses his apprehensions that “some will smutch his labours with a scorne of his profession.”
From Project Gutenberg
Beata's words and feelings are still the dazzling white and pure fresh snow, just as they have fallen from heaven: no footprint and no step of age have yet smutched this splendor.
From Project Gutenberg
“I wager you feel all cinders and smutch after such a long ride in the cars.”
From Project Gutenberg
It is a great mistake to imagine that one can be smutched and the other remain immaculate.
From Project Gutenberg
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.
