1
as in to stain
to make dirty
a tablecloth daubed with too many spills to ignore any longer
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to smear
to rub an oily or sticky substance over
he begins his nightly transformation into a circus clown by daubing greasepaint on his face
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in drawing
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of daub
Sacramento Bee, 30 Jan. 2024
The little daubs that represent passersby are miracles of characterization.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 25 Dec. 2023
Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 13 Feb. 2025
Friday’s attack comes just days after red swastikas were daubed on two synagogues in the Sydney suburbs of Allawah and Newtown.
—Hilary Whiteman, CNN, 17 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for daub
Verb
Much as the eye might want to blot out the offending image, Photoshop it out of existence and daub more verdancy onto this screen-saver panorama, the reality of human habitation, and its concomitant messiness, must be reckoned.
—Sacramento Bee, 30 Jan. 2024
The little daubs that represent passersby are miracles of characterization.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 25 Dec. 2023
Noun
Also on the red carpet tonight before Tom Tykwer’s opening film Das Licht (The Light), multiple protestors formed another protest, wearing masks and raising hands daubed in what seemed to be red paint.
—Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 13 Feb. 2025
Friday’s attack comes just days after red swastikas were daubed on two synagogues in the Sydney suburbs of Allawah and Newtown.
—Hilary Whiteman, CNN, 17 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for daub
Recent Examples of Synonyms for daub
Verb
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Police found items stained by blood in garbage bags in the living room closet.—
Kathryn Kovalenko,
Twin Cities,
9 July 2025
-
Achiote stains the fish, which has also absorbed the aromatics of lemongrass, ginger and sharply citrusy calamansi juice.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
5 July 2025
Verb
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Baldoni’s countersuit, accusing her of smearing him, was dismissed last week.—
Gene Maddaus,
Variety,
19 June 2025
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In extreme cases, some parents will threaten to smear the therapist's name, leave bad reviews, complain to the licensing board, or even threaten the therapist’s physical safety.—
Sherri Gordon,
Parents,
23 June 2025
Noun
-
Not only was the technology for natural language processing (NLP) still maturing, but there were troves of data that were not yet digitized (e.g., paper drawings), and image recognition and processing at the time were nascent, at best.—
Beena Ammanath,
Forbes.com,
8 July 2025
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Check below to see the winning numbers for Monday’s Powerball drawing.—
Fernando Cervantes Jr,
USA Today,
8 July 2025
Verb
-
Some dishes don’t quite live up to their big ideas: a pot of mussels steamed with chickpeas and spicy ’nduja arrived a little on the dry side, and a Caesar salad, topped with crunchy bits of anchovy, the lettuce blackened on the grill, was blobbily overdressed.—
Helen Rosner,
New Yorker,
6 July 2025
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Detectives described bruises all over Gray's body, face, and neck along with severe swelling to her face and eyes, which were blackened.—
Jade Jackson,
IndyStar,
2 July 2025
Verb
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But the numbers do not paint a true picture of his threat and potency.—
Max Mathews,
New York Times,
9 July 2025
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Whether an item is hand painted, or making the mistake of dulling one's knives from too much exposure to a dishwasher, following a few rules will maintain important culinary items.—
Lauren Wicks,
Southern Living,
9 July 2025
Noun
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The machine can handle everything from ultra-sharp lettering to lifelike portraits.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
14 July 2025
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The truth is that Sofia’s job can be taxing, and in The Scout, which premiered in June at the Tribeca Film Festival, González-Nasser, who was herself a location scout for six years, crafts a modest portrait of its complicated reality.—
Lovia Gyarkye,
HollywoodReporter,
14 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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Except there’s a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, and coated in a puzzle.—
Irina Ivanova,
Fortune,
13 July 2025
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Chicken and waffles are also popular, and one waffle menu item comes coated in Fruity Pebbles breakfast cereal.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
11 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Daub.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/daub. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.
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