as in stain
a mark of guilt or disgrace
corruption charges that were a smirch on her reputation
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to stain
to make dirty
their clothes were smirched by dust from the trail
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to humiliate
to reduce to a lower standing in one's own eyes or in others' eyes
this scandal will forever smirch the name of a once-great family
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smirch
Noun
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Your cleaner of choice for stubborn grease, stains, and odors on pots and pans may be half a lemon and salt or baking soda, but take note of the materials they’re made with.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
26 June 2025 -
Lie down on an old towel to protect your surface from oil stains.—
Lindsay Curtis,
Health,
25 June 2025
Verb
-
The site was visibly blackened by the degree of rubble thrown up by the strikes.—
CNN.com Wire Service,
Mercury News,
23 June 2025
-
Broil the bell pepper for 4 to 6 minutes, until the skin starts to blacken.—
Alana Al-Hatlani,
Southern Living,
9 May 2025
Verb
-
Miller sought to shield these women, her suit said, and as a result she was humiliated, harassed and ultimately forced out of her job by Spitzer and Nelson.—
Teri Sforza,
Oc Register,
20 June 2025
-
As Howard begins to humiliate Matt, the camera follows all angles of the table, making sure to showcase everyone’s reactions.—
Leia Mendoza,
Variety,
17 June 2025
Noun
-
Some argued that, given the presumptive unethical taint of such collections, human remains should be buried or otherwise respectfully disposed of.—
Rachel Monroe,
New Yorker,
23 June 2025
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That realization tends to color behavior, and taints the findings.—
Abhimanyu Ghoshal,
New Atlas,
17 June 2025
Verb
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And for nights when you can't be bothered to dirty a million dishes just to get dinner on the table, there's an air fryer from Ninja.—
Sarah Felbin,
SELF,
23 May 2025
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Crème Brûlée Steve Granitz Crème brûlée is like butter blonde, but dirtied up a bit for a browned, warm tint.—
Audrey Noble,
Vogue,
2 May 2025
Verb
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That terrifying consequence alone is sufficient to discredit the executive order.—
Bruce Fein,
Baltimore Sun,
30 June 2025
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And for that, I was met with silence, deflection, and efforts to discredit me.—
Stephanie Giang-Paunon,
FOXNews.com,
25 June 2025
Noun
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Pretreat any stains with a stain remover of choice and blot with a dry white cloth to remove as much stain prior to washing.—
Daley Quinn,
Southern Living,
21 Apr. 2025
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Add a bit more color to the corners of the lips, then use your fingers to blot and blur the edges, as needed.—
Conçetta Ciarlo,
Vogue,
4 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
Their reputations were besmirched.—
The Editors,
National Review,
17 Dec. 2024
-
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
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Cite this Entry
“Smirch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smirch. Accessed 7 Jul. 2025.
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