EN

Synonyms for besmear

40 synonyms
3 antonyms
2 meanings

verb

Most common

soil slur darken smut cloud smear

Synonyms by meaning

Verb

1. Bedaub — to smear over, to smear all over, to daub

soil, stain, slur, darken, smut, smudge, defile, smooch, smouch US, daub, begrime, bedizen formal UK, blot, contaminate, discolor US, discolour UK, bedaub dated, blur dated, uggle dated UK, bedirty dated

2. Smear — to damage the reputation of, to tarnish, to sully

smear, spot, dirty, cloud, sully, tarnish, blacken, besmirch, befoul, disgrace, muddy, discredit, libel, taint, reproach, blemish, malign, denigrate, disparage, defame, vilify, revile

Antonyms

respect, promote, glorify

All antonyms of besmear →

Definitions

v. 1
To smear over, to smear all over, to daub.
v. 2
To damage the reputation of, to tarnish, to sully.

Forms

Past participle: besmeared
e.g. besmeared → soiled, stained, slurred, darkened…

Example sentences

soil Fertile soil is indispensable for a good harvest.
slur His sexist slur was broadcasted across the country.
darken The jealousy is starting to darken Tom's mind.
smut No one ever said smut was unprofitable.
cloud The car was enveloped in a cloud of exhaust fumes.
smear Will I be tested for chlamydia during my smear test?

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
besmear		falling
soil		falling
slur		rising
darken		rising
smut		falling
cloud		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters: spot¹, soil¹, blur¹, slur¹, blot¹, smut¹, daub¹
5 letters: dirty², cloud¹, stain¹, muddy², smear¹, libel², sully², taint¹, uggle
6 letters: darken², smudge¹, defile, malign², smooch¹, defame², vilify³, revile², befoul, smouch, bedaub
7 letters: tarnish², blemish², blacken², begrime, bedizen³, bedirty
8 letters: disgrace², reproach², discolor³, besmirch
9 letters: discredit³, denigrate³, disparage³, discolour
11 letters: contaminate⁴

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (dirty² = 2 syllables).