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Synonyms

sully

1 American  
[suhl-ee] / ˈsʌl i /

verb (used with object)

sullied, sullying

  1. to soil, stain, or tarnish.

    Synonyms:
    contaminate, blemish, taint

  2. to mar the purity or luster of; defile.

    to sully a reputation.
    Synonyms:
    dishonor, disgrace, dirty

verb (used without object)

sullied, sullying

  1. to become sullied, soiled, or tarnished.

noun

plural

sullies

  1. Obsolete. a stain; soil.

Sully 2 American  
[suhl-ee, sy-lee] / ˈsʌl i, süˈli /

noun

  1. Maximilien de Béthune Duc de, 1560–1641, French statesman.

  2. Thomas, 1783–1872, U.S. painter, born in England.

sully 1 British  
/ ˈsʌlɪ /

verb

  1. to stain or tarnish (a reputation, etc) or (of a reputation) to become stained or tarnished

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. a stain

  2. the act of sullying

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Sully 2 British  
/ sylli, ˈsʌlɪ /

noun

  1. Maximilien de Béthune (maksimiljɛ̃ də betyn), Duc de Sully. 1559–1641, French statesman; minister of Henry IV. He helped restore the finances of France after the Wars of Religion

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • sulliable adjective
  • unsulliable adjective

Etymology

Origin of sully

First recorded in 1585–95; origin uncertain

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.

Anyone associated in any way with Jeffrey Epstein would sully the Olympics, especially an organizer thereof.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 21, 2026

Macron almost immediately responded on X: "Shame on those who wanted to sully his memory," he wrote.

From Barron's • Oct. 9, 2025

He feels waiting any longer would just sully his father’s name.

From BBC • Sep. 3, 2024

Why would millennials, unable to own their own places, sully the site of our nostalgia by playing as landlords?

From Slate • Apr. 3, 2024

And in a different way, I didn’t want to sully the kitchen table with the kinds of things I’d seen and heard during the day; it just seemed best to keep it inside.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover

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.