EN

Synonyms for maculate

21 synonyms
3 antonyms
3 meanings

verb
adjective

Most common

sully tarnish defile freck variegate

Synonyms by meaning

Verb

1. Spot

spot, stain, sully, defile, tarnish, blot, taint, pollute, contaminate, debase

2. Foul

Other

variegate, freck

Adjective

1. Unclean — defiled, impure

unclean, impure, defiled, spotted, soiled, blotched, discolored US, discoloured UK

Antonyms

clean, pure, immaculate

All antonyms of maculate →

Definitions

v. 1
To spot; to stain; to blur.
adj. 1
Defiled, impure.

Related words

Word family: macula

Forms

Past participle: maculated
e.g. maculated → spotted, stained, sullied, defiled…

Example sentences

sully I wouldn't want to sully your good name.
tarnish Sami was trying to tarnish Layla's reputation.
defile I can't believe you would defile a gravestone!

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
maculate		falling
sully		rising
tarnish		steady
defile		rising
freck		steady
variegate		steady

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

By length

4 letters: spot¹, foul¹, blot¹
5 letters: stain¹, sully², taint¹, freck¹
6 letters: impure², soiled¹, defile, debase², befoul
7 letters: spotted², unclean², tarnish², pollute², defiled
8 letters: blotched¹
9 letters: variegate³
10 letters: discolored³
11 letters: contaminate⁴, discoloured

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (sully² = 2 syllables).