| / English Dictionary |
SULLY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Irregular inflected form: sullied
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
French statesman (1560-1641)
Synonyms:
Duc de Sully; Maxmilien de Bethune; Sully
Classified under:
Instance hypernyms:
national leader; solon; statesman (a man who is a respected leader in national or international affairs)
Sense 2
Meaning:
United States painter (born in England) of portraits and historical scenes (1783-1872)
Synonyms:
Sully; Thomas Sully
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Instance hypernyms:
painter (an artist who paints)
II. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they sully ... he / she / it sullies
Past simple: sullied
Past participle: sullied
-ing form: sullying
Sense 1
Meaning:
Charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone
Example:
The article in the paper sullied my reputation
Synonyms:
asperse; besmirch; calumniate; defame; denigrate; slander; smear; smirch; sully
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Hypernyms (to "sully" 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 "sully"):
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
Sense 2
Meaning:
Make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air; also used metaphorically
Example:
Her reputation was sullied after the affair with a married man
Synonyms:
defile; maculate; stain; sully; tarnish
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "sully" is one way to...):
blob; blot; fleck; spot (make a spot or mark onto)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sully"):
darken (tarnish or stain)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Sense 3
Meaning:
Place under suspicion or cast doubt upon
Example:
sully someone's reputation
Synonyms:
cloud; corrupt; defile; sully; taint
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "sully" is one way to...):
deflower; impair; mar; spoil; vitiate (make imperfect)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Context examples:
From a flowery arch at the bottom of my garden I gazed over the sea—bluer than the sky: the old world was beyond; clear prospects opened thus:—'Go,' said Hope, 'and live again in Europe: there it is not known what a sullied name you bear, nor what a filthy burden is bound to you.'
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
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