blemish

The play that defined the night, however, was a blemish on his record.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026

His only blemish remains a draw with Frazer Clarke, a result he emphatically avenged with a first-round stoppage.

From BBC ● May 8, 2026

And in a culture so hellbent on idol worship and exhausting discourse, where every blemish is smoothed out or screamed at, “SNL” still offers us something scrappy and unvarnished.

From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2026

This ensures that a credit blemish isn’t missed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 2026

That strange little blemish in one of his eyes, a ripple in an otherwise ocean-blue iris.

From "Legend" by Marie Lu

Coating cools while dripping from an arm, smiles askew send mixed signals, smeared eyes like they’d been up late partying with the tarts, blemishes, cracked sugary skin.

From Salon ● Feb. 5, 2026

There were some blemishes on an otherwise solid print.

From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2025

But the record of 85-year-old Mutharika has its own blemishes, from corruption allegations to the debacle that ended his first presidency.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2025

His only blemishes in that time were repeated disappointments in the playoffs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2025

Visible blemishes on the surface of the Sun seemed to be yet another nail in the coffin of Aristotelian heavenly perfection.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin

That record is blemished by his removal from an assignment based on his Francis-like tendencies, which may have had a hand in his failure to rise above the lowest of the U.S.

From Slate ● Apr. 13, 2026

But the history is checkered and the beauty is blemished.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 9, 2024

But it was not to be: His record was too blemished.

From Salon ● Jan. 7, 2023

Later that year, then-Secretary General Ban Ki-moon apologized for the organization’s role in the outbreak, saying it blemished “the reputation of U.N. peacekeeping and the organization worldwide.”

From Washington Post ● Nov. 12, 2022

Instead I find myself staring into a pair of oceans—one perfect, the other blemished by that tiny ripple.

From "Legend" by Marie Lu

The ruckus is blemishing what had been a successful period for Ukraine’s military, which has stopped some Russian advances and even regained a bit of territory over recent months.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

Senate when she died, and questions about her mental capacity shadowed her final years in office, blemishing her reputation and forcing her to repeatedly fend off calls to resign.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2023

Meanwhile, Winston passed for and NFL-leading 5,109 yards and 33 passing touchdowns with Tampa Bay in 2019 — albeit with 30 interceptions blemishing those otherwise exceptional numbers.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 29, 2021

But the defence, along with the team as a whole, improved markedly after half-time and never looked like blemishing only their second clean sheet of the season after the break.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2016

Milton did attempt the demagogue in his pamphlets, only with the result of blemishing his fame and degrading his genius.

From Milton by Mark Pattison