besmear
verb
Forms besmears besmearing besmeared
- verb (transitive) To smear over, to smear all over, to daub.
- verb (transitive) To damage the reputation of, to tarnish, to sully.
Synonyms
bedaub bedirty soil assoil beclart imbrue (especially with blood) bedizen befile befilth befoul begrime beray beshit besmirch besully bewray blacken blot blur clat
Etymology
From Middle English *bismerwen, from Old English besmirwan, besmierwan (“to besmear”), equivalent to be- + smear. Cognate with Dutch besmeren (“to besmear”), German beschmieren (“to besmear”).
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “besmear”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details