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
Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, accused the West of trying to besmirch his country.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 7, 2022
“I can’t imagine how you decided to besmirch the movement by inviting those rowdies here.”
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
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
The articles compounded the Watson family's pain at their loss and they felt Diane was being victim-blamed and besmirched.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
“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
But our own humanity has been besmirched, damaged, undermined by such silences, which, in many ways, represent the most powerful propaganda of all.
From Salon ● May 31, 2023
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
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
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
It is certain, however, that had the love between Robert Carr and Frances Howard been as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, jealousy would still have done its worst in besmirching.
From She Stands Accused by Victor MacClure
Vocabulary lists containing besmirch
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
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