Synonyms for daub

Most common

1. Smear — to apply (something) to a surface in hasty or crude strokes

v. 1
To apply (something) to a surface in hasty or crude strokes.
The artist just seemed to daub on paint at random and suddenly there was a painting.
n. 1
Excrement or clay used as a bonding material in construction.

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

3 letters: dab¹
4 letters: spot¹, coat¹, soil¹, slur¹, blot¹
5 letters: cover², apply², stain¹, smear¹, sully², taint¹
6 letters: splash¹, darken², smudge¹, defile, smooch¹, smirch, bedaub, smouch
7 letters: plaster², blemish², spatter², blacken², splotch, besmear, begrime
8 letters: discolor³, besmirch
9 letters: discolour

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (cover² = 2 syllables).