as in to stain
to make dirty
people that sully our state parks with their trash a once-gleaming marble interior sullied by decades of exposure to cigarette smoke
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Recent Examples of sully
Cycling, too, has made changes to cleanse a reputation sullied by the likes of Lance Armstrong.
—
Philip Buckingham, New York Times, 20 June 2025
The standards increase every year and the school’s reputation will not be sullied by the Ono decision.
—Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 15 June 2025
Tracing the Mississippi River, this 85-mile region is home to numerous petrochemical plants, which have sullied the air.
—Henna Hundal, Forbes.com, 28 Apr. 2025
All of that sullied what was an excellent outing to that point.
—Daniel Nugent-Bowman, New York Times, 21 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for sully
Philip Buckingham, New York Times, 20 June 2025
The standards increase every year and the school’s reputation will not be sullied by the Ono decision.
—Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 15 June 2025
Tracing the Mississippi River, this 85-mile region is home to numerous petrochemical plants, which have sullied the air.
—Henna Hundal, Forbes.com, 28 Apr. 2025
All of that sullied what was an excellent outing to that point.
—Daniel Nugent-Bowman, New York Times, 21 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for sully
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sully
Verb
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However, the damage was done, thanks to the anchoring bias where the news broke, it was already stained in people’s memory.—
Pamela N. Danziger,
Forbes.com,
22 July 2025
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It was stained in several places, disintegrating around the edges, and already yellowing due to years of exposure to air and sunlight and, quite possibly, pipe tobacco.—
Darcy Ballantyne
July 16,
Literary Hub,
16 July 2025
Verb
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Leaves and buds that are bitten by frost will blacken and shrivel, sometimes all over the plant.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
23 July 2025
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Let skins blister and blacken, while turning peppers with tongs, until they’re evenly blackened, about 5 minutes.—
The New York Times News Service Syndicate,
Denver Post,
22 July 2025
Verb
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Some were prosthetic buttocks, but others were people’s own buttocks, but in various states, like dirtied down and with partial covering.—
Alex Ritman,
Variety,
1 July 2025
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Crow-Armstrong has dirtied up the White Sox in six of those games, batting .458 with eight RBIs and a homer.—
Kalen Lumpkins,
Chicago Tribune,
27 June 2025
Verb
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Their reputations were besmirched.—
The Editors,
National Review,
17 Dec. 2024
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Images illustrating the reality versus carefully edited Instagram selfies have somewhat besmirched Santorini’s romantic reputation of late.—
Helen Iatrou,
AFAR Media,
16 Dec. 2024
Verb
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The natural world may be past saving, particularly as a habitat for the species that has so utterly befouled it, and, yet, what else is there to do but keep on keeping on?—
Nick Paumgarten,
The New Yorker,
19 Feb. 2025
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Capitalism is degrading us, killing us and befouling our world.—
Philip Kennicott,
Washington Post,
8 June 2023
Cite this Entry
“Sully.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sully. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
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