as in staining
to make dirty
she dirtied her new sneakers when she splashed in the puddle
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Recent Examples of dirtying
Keep them in reserve as a sleep sock to ward off icy toes and prevent sweat and skin oils from dirtying your down sleeping bag.
—
Adam Roy, Outside, 28 Dec. 2025
Amazon shoppers are also going after this top-selling nonstick frying pan that’s great for eggs, chicken breasts, and other hard-to-flip foods, as well as this immersion blender that can churn soups and sauces into a creamy texture without dirtying another vessel.
—Clara McMahon, PEOPLE, 28 Nov. 2025
Adam Roy, Outside, 28 Dec. 2025
Amazon shoppers are also going after this top-selling nonstick frying pan that’s great for eggs, chicken breasts, and other hard-to-flip foods, as well as this immersion blender that can churn soups and sauces into a creamy texture without dirtying another vessel.
—Clara McMahon, PEOPLE, 28 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dirtying
Verb
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As those natural oils break down, the wood may become dry, dull, and more prone to cracking or staining.—
Jessica Safavimehr,
Southern Living,
7 Feb. 2026
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Another option is to use a straw for drinking the liquid, which can help bypass the teeth and prevent staining.—
BestReviews,
Mercury News,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
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And Hanceville’s fate is as murky as the fog that pours in at night, blotting out buildings and blackening the road ahead.—
Rob Picheta,
CNN Money,
7 Feb. 2026
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These tungsten atoms would then condense on the slightly cooler inside of the glass bulb, blackening it and dimming the light over time.—
Natalia Sánchez Loayza,
Scientific American,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Now Rob is messing with another one of Candiace’s friends, and Candiace is ready to blow up the whole turret over it.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
4 Feb. 2026
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Genetic engineering took his fancy, but Hassan’s father didn’t like the idea of messing with God’s creation.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
2 Feb. 2026
Verb
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On TikTok, as The Washington Post has reported, some creators are making $5,000 a month using AI tools to write scripts and animate extremely dumb viral videos where old men talk about soiling themselves.—
Charlie Warzel,
The Atlantic,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The problem is, people were drinking a lot of bad ones, sullying their opinion of the drink.—
Jeremy Repanich,
Robb Report,
7 Feb. 2026
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The scale of the fraud in Minnesota dwarfs the roughly $100 million welfare scandal that rocked Mississippi from 2016 to 2019, embroiling former NFL quarterback Brett Favre in a civil lawsuit and sullying the state’s reputation for oversight.—
The Denver Post Editorial Board,
Denver Post,
20 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Kelly believes a book like this hasn’t been written before because people weren’t ready to hear the truth – as though acknowledging these famous people’s complete life experiences would be besmirching their legacies.—
Tiney Ricciardi,
Denver Post,
12 Jan. 2026
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Famously, the British press conspired to draw the dramatist’s name through the mud, besmirching his literary legacy for generations to follow.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
20 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dirtying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dirtying. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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