besmirch
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.
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Steele doesn’t besmirch the data that punishes his Redhawks, but he also says “there’s something to winning.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 2, 2026
Mr Yusuf said he had never met Gill, and it was unreasonable to "besmirch" Reform UK, Nigel Farage and the party's millions of supporters.
From BBC ● Nov. 23, 2025
Citing this isn’t meant to besmirch Lear’s legacy but, rather, to highlight his flaws as a part of his evolution.
From Salon ● Dec. 7, 2023
It’s still theirs and not yours to besmirch.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 7, 2023
The critics were jealous, the articles said, and looking for ways to besmirch the respected surgeons involved in Garfield's care.
From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow
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"Behaviour like that, whether it's at an Old Firm match or any other football match, besmirches that, and it should absolutely be seen as unacceptable."
From BBC ● Apr. 4, 2022
Yet his failure to universally apply the Constitution’s protections besmirches his record.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 14, 2021
Mud besmirches his van’s tiny, neat living space.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 6, 2018
It is unfortunate that this Times article indirectly besmirches the Yankees.
From New York Times ● Jul. 8, 2017
How is it, I wonder, that while the dear child generally speaks of 'ay and 'ouse, she invariably besmirches with the strongest of aspirates the unfortunate village of H'Orton?
From The Argosy Vol. 51, No. 4, April, 1891 by Charles W. Wood
“New banks didn’t even call themselves banks and instead used the expression caisses, meaning ‘deposits,’ so besmirched was the banking industry’s reputation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
"What happened thereafter has besmirched the unsuspecting town of Kidwelly," he said.
From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2025
Whitfield, who is biracial, claimed that Hassan’s comments about how she got the job on the show besmirched her merits, something that Black women often have to deal with in the workforce.
From Salon ● Feb. 12, 2025
Securities and Exchange Commission, had wrongly besmirched Hindenburg’s “well-deserved reputation for thoroughness, precision and accuracy.”
From Reuters ● Feb. 2, 2023
Was there any kind of filth with which he had not besmirched himself, any sin and folly which he had not committed, any stain upon his soul for which he alone had not been responsible?
From "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse
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Wiping clean the empty high-rise towers besmirching the city skyline with florid graffiti art is a stated priority for buyers and the city, but a federal bankruptcy court has yet to approve the sale.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
The businesses declared themselves outraged by the government besmirching their reputation.
From BBC ● Jan. 18, 2023
Like, say, besmirching an evening that featured Black women making Oscars history, with Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes joining Amy Schumer as the first trio of women to host the show.
From Salon ● Mar. 28, 2022
So is the fact that he considered burying other ethically troubling allegations about nominees the decent thing to do—to avoid besmirching their characters.
From Slate ● Jun. 17, 2020
With that, the man in blue shirt and overalls not only gave Bonny a besmirching pat on her snowy shoulder, but safely handed Glory herself across the swaying plank to the quay beyond.
From A Sunny Little Lass by Evelyn Raymond
Vocabulary lists containing besmirch
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
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