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
As it turns out, Murray’s story doesn’t besmirch Candy’s memory at all.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2025
There was also criticism from the Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetang'ula, who said the aim of the documentary was to "besmirch" Kenya.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2025
Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, accused the West of trying to besmirch his country.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 7, 2022
“How dare you besmirch that magnificent image with your vintner’s hands.”
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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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
“All the evidence of the fancy suits really is irrelevant and besmirches the defendant.”
From Washington Post ● Aug. 2, 2018
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
Prince Napoleon blames M. Taine for quoting "eight times" 'Bourrienne's Memoirs,' and then, letting his feelings loose, he takes advantage of the occasion and cruelly besmirches Bourrienne's name.
From Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 6 by Hamilton Wright Mabie
“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
Schultz saw others in the opera community rally around the attackers, and was criticized for besmirching the reputation of prominent gay men.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 30, 2023
Yet having that knowledge somehow doesn't assuage the anxiety that strikes the moment I see a ring of oil-slicked curry from the pot lid besmirching my flawless countertop.
From Salon ● Apr. 18, 2023
The businesses declared themselves outraged by the government besmirching their reputation.
From BBC ● Jan. 18, 2023
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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