name
Meaning 1
A surname.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
sully
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/ˈsʌli/
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rhymes with -ʌli
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General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈsʌli/
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General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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CMU ARPABET: S AH1 L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
name
Meaning 2
A diminutive of the male given name Sullivan.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 3
A placename:
A coastal village in the Vale of Glamorgan borough county borough, Wales (OS grid ref ST1568).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 4
A placename:
A commune in Saône-et-Loire department, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 5
A placename:
A commune in Oise department, Hauts-de-France, France.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 6
A placename:
A commune in Calvados department, Normandy, France.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 7
A placename:
A minor city in Jasper County, Iowa, United States.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 8
A placename:
An unincorporated community in Randolph County, West Virginia, United States.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 9
A placename:
Ellipsis of Sully County.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 10
A blemish.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete, rare
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 11
To soil or stain; to dirty.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
- He did not wish to sully his hands with gardening.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: befoul, sowl, tarnish, assoil, beclart, bedaub, bedirty, imbrue (especially with blood), bedizen, befile, befilth, begrime, beray, beshit, besmear, besmirch, besully, bewray, blacken, blot, blur, clat, contaminate, darken, defile, dirten, dirty, elt, file, foil, foul, gunk, gunk up, inquinate, scunge, sling mud, slotter, slur, smear, smirch, smudge, smut, smutch, soil, soss, spot, stain, sullow, sully, uggle
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 12
To corrupt or damage.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
- She tried to sully her rival’s reputation with a suggestive comment.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: besmirch, debase, stain, tarnish, assassinate, asperse, backbite, badmouth, befoul, belibel, besmear, bewray, blacken, blame, blaze, blemish, blot, blur, calumniate, calumny, chat shit, chat shite, cloud, defame, demonize, denigrate, deprave, depreciate, detract, dirty, discredit, disgrace, disparage, disrepute, diss, drag through the mud, forgab, forspeak, foul, infamize, lampoon, libel, malign, monsterize, muddy, reproach, revile, scandal, shit-talk, slag, slander, smear, smirch, spatter, spot, speak ill of, stab, sully, talk shit, talk shite, talk trash, torch, traduce, trash-talk, unflatter, vilify, vilipend, villainize, wrong
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 13
To become soiled or tarnished.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: ergative, intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 14
French statesman (1560-1641)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: Duc de Sully, Maxmilien de Bethune
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: statesman, solon, national leader
noun
Meaning 15
United States painter (born in England) of portraits and historical scenes (1783-1872)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: Thomas Sully
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: painter
verb
Meaning 16
charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- The journalists have defamed me!
- The article in the paper sullied my reputation
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: defame, slander, smirch, asperse, denigrate, calumniate, smear, besmirch
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: charge, accuse
Narrower terms: assassinate, libel, badmouth, malign, traduce, drag through the mud
verb
Meaning 17
make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air; also used metaphorically
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- The silver was tarnished by the long exposure to the air
- Her reputation was sullied after the affair with a married man
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: tarnish, stain, maculate, defile
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: spot, fleck, blob, blot
Narrower terms: darken
verb
Meaning 18
place under suspicion or cast doubt upon
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- sully someone's reputation
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: defile, corrupt, taint, cloud
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: mar, impair, spoil, deflower, vitiate
History
Etymology
From Middle English sulen, sulien (“to become dirty; to defile, pollute, taint”), from Old English sylian (“to soil, pollute; to sully”), from Proto-West Germanic *sulwōn, *sulwijan (“to make dirty; to sully”), from Proto-Indo-European *sūl- (“thick liquid, muck”), perhaps conflated partially with Old French souillier (“to soil”) (modern French souiller) from the same Germanic source. The word is cognate with Danish søle (“to sully”), West Flemish seulewen (“to sully”) (Middle Dutch soluwen (“to sully”)), German sühlen (“to sully”), Old Saxon sulian (“to sully”), Swedish söla (“to sully”). Also compare Middle English sulpen (“to defile, pollute”), Old English solian (“to soil, become defiled, make or become foul”), and see more at soil.
Across languages
Translations
59 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: цапам (capam) — to soil or stain
- Bulgarian: замърсявам (zamǎrsjavam) — to soil or stain
- Czech: potřísnit — to soil or stain
- Czech: ušpinit — to soil or stain
- Czech: umazat — to soil or stain
- Dutch: bevuilen — to soil or stain
- Dutch: bezoedelen — to soil or stain
- Finnish: liata — to soil or stain
- Finnish: tahrata — to soil or stain
- French: salir — to soil or stain
- French: souiller — to soil or stain
- Galician: luxar — to soil or stain
- Galician: ensuciar — to soil or stain
- Galician: emporcallar — to soil or stain
- German: besudeln — to soil or stain
- German: schmutzig machen — to soil or stain
- Hungarian: összepiszkít — to soil or stain
- Hungarian: bepiszkít — to soil or stain
- Hungarian: beszennyez — to soil or stain
- Irish: salaigh — to soil or stain
- Polish: skalać — to soil or stain
- Portuguese: sujar — to soil or stain
- Romanian: spurca — to soil or stain
- Romanian: mânji — to soil or stain
- Russian: па́чкать (páčkatʹ) — to soil or stain
- Russian: мара́ть (marátʹ) — to soil or stain
- Serbo-Croatian: ukaljati — to soil or stain
- Swedish: söla — to soil or stain
- Ukrainian: бруднити (brudnyty) — to soil or stain
- Bulgarian: опетнявам (opetnjavam) — to corrupt or damage
- Czech: poskvrnit — to corrupt or damage
- Czech: pošpinit — to corrupt or damage
- Dutch: bevuilen — to corrupt or damage
- Dutch: bezoedelen — to corrupt or damage
- Finnish: liata — to corrupt or damage
- French: souiller — to corrupt or damage
- German: besudeln — to corrupt or damage
- Hungarian: beszennyez — to corrupt or damage
- Polish: skalać — to corrupt or damage
- Portuguese: manchar — to corrupt or damage
- Portuguese: macular — to corrupt or damage
- Romanian: păta — to corrupt or damage
- Romanian: murdări — to corrupt or damage
- Russian: пятнать (pjatnatʹ) — to corrupt or damage
- Serbo-Croatian: ukaljati — to corrupt or damage
- Spanish: mancillar — to corrupt or damage
- Spanish: macular — to corrupt or damage
- Spanish: embarrar — to corrupt or damage
- Spanish: enfangar — to corrupt or damage
- Spanish: enlodar — to corrupt or damage
- Spanish: empañar — to corrupt or damage
- Spanish: deslustrar — to corrupt or damage
- Spanish: tiznar — to corrupt or damage
- Spanish: desdorar — to corrupt or damage
- Ottoman Turkish: چامورلامق (çamurlamak) — to corrupt or damage
- Ukrainian: плямувати (pljamuvaty) — to corrupt or damage
- Bulgarian: цапам се (capam se) — to become soiled or tarnished
- Romanian: păta — to become soiled or tarnished
- Romanian: murdări — to become soiled or tarnished
Real reading context