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sully - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'sully' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Sully [ n.]
- Soil; tarnish; stain.
2 . Sully [ v. i.]
- To become soiled or tarnished.
3 . Sully [ v. t.]
- To soil; to dirty; to spot; to tarnish; to stain; to darken; -- used literally and figuratively; as, to sully a sword; to sully a person's reputation.

Meaning of 'sully' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . sully [ v]
Meaning (1):
- make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air; also used metaphorically
Example in sentence:
  • Her reputation was sullied after the affair with a married man;
  • The silver was tarnished by the long exposure to the air
Meaning (2):
- place under suspicion or cast doubt upon
Example in sentence:
  • sully someone's reputation
Meaning (3):
- charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone
Example in sentence:
  • The article in the paper sullied my reputation;
  • The journalists have defamed me!

Nearby Words:

sula sulcate sulcated sulcation sulci sulciform sulcus suleah fish sulk sulker

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