Sully
verb
To damage the purity or integrity of something.
The scandal sullied his reputation.
Often appears as...
- sully one's hands
- sully reputation
verb
To make dirty or smudge with soot or dirt.
His boots sullied the clean floor.
Often appears as...
- sully clothes
- sully skin
verb
To damage the purity or integrity of something.
The scandal sullied his reputation.
Often appears as...
- sully one's hands
- sully reputation
verb
To make dirty or smudge with soot or dirt.
His boots sullied the clean floor.
Often appears as...
- sully clothes
- sully skin
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Metaphorical Use
Often used metaphorically to describe harming someone's reputation or good name.
Don't sully her name with baseless accusations.
Pro Tip 2/3Irreversible Impact
Suggests a lasting impact that's hard to erase or undo.
The corruption charges have permanently sullied his political career.
Pro Tip 3/3Negative Connotation
Carries a strong negative tone, more than just 'damage' or 'spoil'.
I refused to let his lies sully my good work.
Compare with
besmirchcontaminatedefilesoilspoilstaintainttarnish
Never forget "Sully"
Humans forget easily. That's why you should download WordUp: Smart reminders, word games, AI practice, and much more!
Video examples
Ze Frank's web playroom
unfortunately, I was harboring all this kind of awful experience and this pain inside of me, and it started to eat away at my psyche. And I was protecting the project from it, I realized. I was protecting it -- I didn't want this special, little group of photographs to get sullied in some way.
Video examples
Sumo PIPE National...
sullied by the Restless peasants what's surprising about sumo is the sheer size of the wrestlers a traditional diet that includes choco lava a stew made from fatty meats cabbage eggs and bean sprouts helps them bulk up entering the
Video examples
Ze Frank's web playroom
unfortunately, I was harboring all this kind of awful experience and this pain inside of me, and it started to eat away at my psyche. And I was protecting the project from it, I realized. I was protecting it -- I didn't want this special, little group of photographs to get sullied in some way.
Video examples
Sumo PIPE National...
sullied by the Restless peasants what's surprising about sumo is the sheer size of the wrestlers a traditional diet that includes choco lava a stew made from fatty meats cabbage eggs and bean sprouts helps them bulk up entering the
Example 1 of 2
Quote examples
Imre Kertesz
Hungarian Author
No one in my family wrote. And there was no real introduction. I suppose I somehow blundered into it when I was about six or seven years old. I was asked what present I would like, and, without knowing why, I responded that I would like a journal. It was a beautiful journal - so beautiful that I didn't want to sully it.
Quote examples
Jenny Zhang
Chinese Actress
I hadn't ever worked with an 'editor' until I was 26 - although that could be partly chalked up to the MFA vs. NYC thing, where I came up through institutions that encouraged writers to write privately for a long, long time and not sully themselves with concerns about audience or the business side of writing.
Quote examples
Bojan Krkic
Spanish Athlete
Those of us who have feeling, who are sensitive, who can be affected, need a good shield. Footballers are very young and they're exposed. Even at under-15s, players have Twitter and I'm sure they're already getting insults... it's ugly, it sullies society and football.
Quote examples
Kevin Young
Blackface remains exoticist and offensive as a practice, not just because of its long tradition of being used to mock black selfhood, sexuality, and speech but because of its assertion that black people are merely white people sullied by dark skin.
Quote examples
Wayne Dyer
American Psychologist
Never, and I mean never, allow anyone else's ideas of who you can or can't become sully your dream or pollute your imagination. This is your territory, and a 'Keep Out' sign is a great thing to erect at all entrances to your imagination.
Quote examples
Andrea Seigel
American Novelist
Old-school viewers remain adamant that 'The Real World' has deteriorated, as if the original enterprise were some pristine experiment that got sullied as the conditions in the lab got sloppier.
Quote examples
Morley Safer
Canadian Journalist
I think it has sullied his presidency. As brilliant a politician as Bill Clinton is, as magnetic a personality as he can be, there is one little screw loose somewhere.
Quote examples
John Perry Barlow
American Writer
But generally speaking, I felt to engage in the political process was to sully oneself to such a degree that whatever came out wasn't worth the trouble put in.
Quote examples
Hilary Farr
British Designer
Choose paintings, sculptures, realistic or abstract or animal images woven into fabrics, rather than a faux zebra rug or a sullied Lion's head on the wall.
Quote examples
F. Sionil Jose
Filipino Writer
The Japanese covet important symbols - their heroic past as enshrined in Yasukuni, the Imperial family which has never been sullied by scandal.
Quote examples
Imre Kertesz
Hungarian Author
No one in my family wrote. And there was no real introduction. I suppose I somehow blundered into it when I was about six or seven years old. I was asked what present I would like, and, without knowing why, I responded that I would like a journal. It was a beautiful journal - so beautiful that I didn't want to sully it.
Quote examples
Jenny Zhang
Chinese Actress
I hadn't ever worked with an 'editor' until I was 26 - although that could be partly chalked up to the MFA vs. NYC thing, where I came up through institutions that encouraged writers to write privately for a long, long time and not sully themselves with concerns about audience or the business side of writing.
Quote examples
Bojan Krkic
Spanish Athlete
Those of us who have feeling, who are sensitive, who can be affected, need a good shield. Footballers are very young and they're exposed. Even at under-15s, players have Twitter and I'm sure they're already getting insults... it's ugly, it sullies society and football.
Quote examples
Kevin Young
Blackface remains exoticist and offensive as a practice, not just because of its long tradition of being used to mock black selfhood, sexuality, and speech but because of its assertion that black people are merely white people sullied by dark skin.
Quote examples
Wayne Dyer
American Psychologist
Never, and I mean never, allow anyone else's ideas of who you can or can't become sully your dream or pollute your imagination. This is your territory, and a 'Keep Out' sign is a great thing to erect at all entrances to your imagination.
Quote examples
Andrea Seigel
American Novelist
Old-school viewers remain adamant that 'The Real World' has deteriorated, as if the original enterprise were some pristine experiment that got sullied as the conditions in the lab got sloppier.
Quote examples
Morley Safer
Canadian Journalist
I think it has sullied his presidency. As brilliant a politician as Bill Clinton is, as magnetic a personality as he can be, there is one little screw loose somewhere.
Quote examples
John Perry Barlow
American Writer
But generally speaking, I felt to engage in the political process was to sully oneself to such a degree that whatever came out wasn't worth the trouble put in.
Quote examples
Hilary Farr
British Designer
Choose paintings, sculptures, realistic or abstract or animal images woven into fabrics, rather than a faux zebra rug or a sullied Lion's head on the wall.
Quote examples
F. Sionil Jose
Filipino Writer
The Japanese covet important symbols - their heroic past as enshrined in Yasukuni, the Imperial family which has never been sullied by scandal.
Example 1 of 10
WordUp Chrome Extension
As you browse the web instantly look up words you don’t know.
Get Chrome Extension