Library / 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:

Nouns denoting people

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) 

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

Credits

 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)