Adjacent Words

Sully definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SUL'LY, v.t.
1. To soil; to dirt; to spot; to tarnish.
And statues sullied yet with sacrilegious smoke.
2. To tarnish; to darken.
Let there be no spots to sully the brightness of this solemnity.
3. To stain; to tarnish; as the purity of reputation; as virtues sullied by slanders; character sullied by infamous vices.
SUL'LY, v.i. To be soiled or tarnished.
Silvering will sully and canker more than gilding.
SUL'LY, n. Soil, tarnish; spot.
A noble and triumphant merit breaks through little spots and sullies on his reputation.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: United States painter (born in England) of portraits and historical scenes (1783-1872) [syn: Sully, Thomas Sully]
2: French statesman (1560-1641) [syn: Sully, Duc de Sully, Maxmilien de Bethune] v
1: place under suspicion or cast doubt upon; "sully someone's reputation" [syn: defile, sully, corrupt, taint, cloud]
2: make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air; also used metaphorically; "The silver was tarnished by the long exposure to the air"; "Her reputation was sullied after the affair with a married man" [syn: tarnish, stain, maculate, sully, defile]
3: charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone; "The journalists have defamed me!" "The article in the paper sullied my reputation" [syn: defame, slander, smirch, asperse, denigrate, calumniate, smear, sully, besmirch]

Merriam Webster's

I. biographical name Duc de 1560-1641 Maximilien de Béthune Baron de Rosny French statesman II. biographical name Thomas 1783-1872 American (English-born) painter

Merriam Webster's

I. transitive verb (sullied; sullying) Etymology: Middle English *sullien, probably alteration (influenced by Anglo-French suillier, soiller to soil) of sulen to soil, from Old English sylian Date: 15th century to make soiled or tarnished ; defile II. noun (plural sullies) Date: 1601 archaic soil, stain

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. (-ies, -ied) 1 disgrace or tarnish (a person's reputation or character, a victory, etc.). 2 poet. dirty; soil. Etymology: perh. f. F souiller (as SOIL(2))

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sully Sul"ly, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sullied; p. pr. & vb. n. Sullying.] [OE. sulien, AS. sylian, fr. sol mire; akin to G. suhle mire, sich, s["u]hlen to wallow, Sw. s["o]la to bemire, Dan. s["o]le, Goth. bisaulijan to defile.] 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. Statues sullied yet with sacrilegious smoke. --Roscommon. No spots to sully the brightness of this solemnity. --Atterbury.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sully Sul"ly, v. i. To become soiled or tarnished. Silvering will sully and canker more than gilding. --Bacon.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sully Sul"ly, n.; pl. Sullies. Soil; tarnish; stain. A noble and triumphant merit breaks through little spots and sullies in his reputation. --Spectator.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(sullies, sullying, sullied) 1. If something is sullied by something else, it is damaged so that it is no longer pure or of such high value. (FORMAL) The City's reputation has been sullied by scandals like those at Lloyd's... She claimed they were sullying her good name. VERB: be V-ed, V n 2. If someone sullies something, they make it dirty. (FORMAL) I felt loath to sully the gleaming brass knocker by handling it. VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Soil, stain, tarnish, spot, blemish, dirty, contaminate, deface. 2. Stain, soil, tarnish, blemish, dishonor, disgrace, contaminate.

Moby Thesaurus

abuse, attaint, bedaub, befoul, benasty, besmear, besmirch, besmutch, besoil, bespatter, betray, black, blacken, blemish, blot, blow upon, brand, call names, censure, contaminate, corrupt, daub, debauch, deceive, defame, defile, deflower, demoralize, denigrate, despoil, destroy, dirty, disapprove, discolor, disgrace, disparage, engage in personalities, expose, expose to infamy, force, foul, gibbet, hang in effigy, heap dirt upon, infect, lead astray, mar, mess, mess up, mislead, muckrake, nasty, pillory, pollute, rape, ravage, ravish, reprimand, revile, ruin, seduce, shame, slubber, slur, smear, smirch, smouch, smudge, smut, smutch, soil, spoil, spot, stain, stigmatize, taint, tar, tarnish, throw mud at, vilify, violate, vitiate, wreck