SMIRCH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does smirch mean? 

• SMIRCH (noun)
  The noun SMIRCH has 2 senses:

1. a blemish made by dirt

2. an act that brings discredit to the person who does it

  Familiarity information: SMIRCH used as a noun is rare.

• SMIRCH (verb)
  The verb SMIRCH has 2 senses:

1. smear so as to make dirty or stained

2. charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone

  Familiarity information: SMIRCH used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SMIRCH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A blemish made by dirt

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

blot; daub; slur; smear; smirch; smudge; spot

Context example:

he had a smudge on his cheek

Hypernyms ("smirch" is a kind of...):

blemish; defect; mar (a mark or flaw that spoils the appearance of something (especially on a person's body))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "smirch"):

blotch; splodge; splotch (an irregularly shaped spot)

fingermark; fingerprint (a smudge made by a (dirty) finger)

inkblot (a blot made with ink)

Derivation:

smirch (smear so as to make dirty or stained)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An act that brings discredit to the person who does it

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

blot; smear; smirch; spot; stain

Context example:

he made a huge blot on his copybook

Hypernyms ("smirch" is a kind of...):

error; fault; mistake (a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention)

Derivation:

smirch (charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone)

• SMIRCH (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they smirch    ... he / she / it smirches   
Past simple: smirched   
Past participle: smirched   
-ing form: smirching   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Smear so as to make dirty or stained

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

besmirch; smirch

Hypernyms (to "smirch" is one way to...):

smear (stain by smearing or daubing with a dirty substance)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

smirch (a blemish made by dirt)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

asperse; besmirch; calumniate; defame; denigrate; slander; smear; smirch; sully

Context example:

The article in the paper sullied my reputation

Hypernyms (to "smirch" is one way to...):

accuse; charge (blame for, make a claim of wrongdoing or misbehavior against)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "smirch"):

assassinate (destroy or damage seriously, as of someone's reputation)

libel (print slanderous statements against)

badmouth; drag through the mud; malign; traduce (speak unfavorably about)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

smirch (an act that brings discredit to the person who does it)

 Context examples 

So dreadful are his execrations that the frightened lad thrust his fingers into his ear-holes, and ran until the fellow was but a brown smirch upon the yellow road.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

When she looked at Martin, she seemed to see the smirch left upon him by his surroundings.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Leach had evidently done his task with a thoroughness that Mugridge had not forgiven, for words followed and evil names involving smirched ancestries.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

When viewed in the light of formal logic, there is not one thing of which to be ashamed; but nevertheless a shame rises within me at the recollection, and in the pride of my manhood I feel that my manhood has in unaccountable ways been smirched and sullied.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)