unsullied
Americanadjective
-
not soiled, untarnished.
an unsullied public persona.
-
virginal; pure.
He wears a purity ring signifying that he will remain unsullied until marriage.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of unsullied
Explanation
Your reputation is unsullied, or unsoiled, because you study hard, you don’t skip school, and you are generally kind to everyone. Your friend’s reputation hasn’t stayed unsullied since he got caught selling answers to tests. To understand the adjective unsullied, you must understand its root, sully, "to soil or tarnish." Something unsullied is spotless: you usually refer to things in the abstract in this way — your military record may be unsullied by disciplinary actions, your report card may be unsullied by grades lower than A.
Vocabulary lists containing unsullied
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 1–6
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Into the Wild
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The Bluest Eye
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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.
Unsullied by the present, they provide an unfiltered flavor of another era.
From New York Times • Jun. 25, 2020
Danaerys’s army didn’t crumble—she had the marauding Dothrakis and the disciplined, ideologically committed Unsullied on her side.
From The New Yorker • May 21, 2019
The horseman howl and ululate in triumph while the Unsullied bang their spears on the ground in unison.
From Salon • May 20, 2019
Grey Worm, not offered a vote on Bran, took the Unsullied toward Missandei’s home of Naath, which seemed like a decent alternative to killing Jon on sight.
From Los Angeles Times • May 20, 2019
Some of her Unsullied reclaimed their birth names after she had freed them; others chose new names for themselves.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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.
