What does "sully" mean?
Sully: 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.
Additional senses
- 2.To become soiled or tarnished. Silvering will sully and canker more than gilding. Bacon.
- 3.Soil; tarnish; stain. A noble and triumphant merit breaks through little spots and sullies in his reputation. Spectator.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00