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• sully
  sully

  verb (used with object)

  to soil, stain, or tarnish.
• Sully
  Sully

  noun

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

sully

¹ American  

[suhl-ee] / ˈsʌl i /

verb (used with object)

sullies, present (3rd person singular) sullied, past participle, past sullying present participle

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

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verb (used without object)

sullies, present (3rd person singular) sullied, past participle, past sullying present participle

1. to become sullied, soiled, or tarnished.

noun

sullies plural

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.

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sully ¹ British  

/ ˈsʌlɪ /

verb

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

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noun

1. a stain

2. the act of sullying

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• sulliable
  adjective
• unsulliable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• sullies
  plural

Participles

• sullying
  present
• sullied
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• sully
  simple
• sullies
  simple
• have sullied
  perfect
• has sullied
  perfect
• am sullying
  progressive
• are sullying
  progressive
• is sullying
  progressive
• have been sullying
  perfect progressive
• has been sullying
  perfect progressive

Past

• sullied
  simple
• had sullied
  perfect
• was sullying
  progressive
• were sullying
  progressive
• had been sullying
  perfect progressive

Future

• will sully
  simple
• will have sullied
  perfect
• will be sullying
  progressive
• will have been sullying
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of sully

First recorded in 1585–95; origin uncertain

Explanation

To sully is to attack someone's good name and to try to ruin his reputation. If you spread false rumors that there's chicken stock in the vegetarian entree at Joe's Diner, you would sully Joe's good reputation. Sully can also mean to tarnish or make spotty. It's easy to remember this meaning when you know that sully comes from the Middle French word souiller, meaning, "make dirty." For example, dripping chocolate sauce onto the table will sully your mother's new white tablecloth. Another meaning of sully is to corrupt or cast suspicion on. If an automaker recalls millions of vehicles due to safety problems, it doesn't exactly inspire confidence — in fact, it may sully their brand.

Example Sentences

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

From Barron's • Oct. 9, 2025

There are countertop devices that promise to scramble your egg inside the shell, so you never have to sully a whisk again.

From Salon • Feb. 11, 2025

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

From BBC • Sep. 3, 2024

But its imperfections in no way sully the two masterpieces that came before.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2024

Previously Hall had invented a machine capable of typing in Braille, the Hall Braille Writer, which he never patented because he felt profit should not sully the cause of serving the blind.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Related Words

• besmirch
• blacken
• corrupt
• debase
• defile
• discolor
• disgrace
• dishonor
• smear
• smudge
• taint
• tar
• tarnish