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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

Next came a year of auditions in Australia and the U.S. before I was cast as Jake Sully in “Avatar.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 16, 2026

Without fail, the miniature version of me would blubber at Sully the polka dot monster reuniting with Boo, and Marlin the clownfish traversing the ocean to find his son.

From Salon • Jun. 6, 2026

One of the competitors, Hailey Krahenbuhl, wrote on Facebook that her horse, Sully, was one of the horses injured in the attack.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2026

The film once again stars Zoe Saldaña as Na'vi warrior Neytiri and and Sam Worthington as ex-Marine Jake Sully, who have to fight off a new enemy after threats to their family's life on Pandora.

From BBC • Dec. 22, 2025

I was waiting for Sully to take notice, to see me and recognize that I was a champion.

From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez

Related Words

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