sully

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Sul·ly

(sŭl′ē, so͞o-lē′, sü-), Duc de Title of Maximilien de Béthune. 1560-1641.

French politician. As chief minister to Henry IV, he replenished the treasury and encouraged agriculture and industry.

sul·ly

(sŭl′ē)

tr.v. sul·lied, sul·ly·ing, sul·lies

1. To mar the cleanness or luster of; soil or stain.

2. To defile; taint: sully a reputation.

n. pl. sul·lies Archaic

Something that stains or spots.

[Probably from French souiller, from Old French; see soil².]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sully

(ˈsʌlɪ)

vb, -lies, -lying or -lied

to stain or tarnish (a reputation, etc) or (of a reputation) to become stained or tarnished

n, pl -lies

1. a stain

2. the act of sullying

[C16: probably from French souiller to soil]

ˈsulliable adj

Sully

(ˈsʌlɪ; French sylli)

(Biography) Maximilien de Béthune (maksimiljɛ̃ də betyn), Duc de Sully. 1559–1641, French statesman; minister of Henry IV. He helped restore the finances of France after the Wars of Religion

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sul•ly

(ˈsʌl i)

v. -lied, -ly•ing, v.t.

1. to soil, stain, or tarnish.

2. to mar the purity or luster of; defile: to sully a reputation.

v.i.

3. to become sullied, soiled, or tarnished.

4. Obs. a stain; soil.

[1585–95; orig. uncertain]

sul′li•a•ble, adj.

Sul•ly

(ˈsʌl i; for 1 also Fr. süˈli)

n.

1. Maximilien de Béthune, Duc de, 1560–1641, French statesman.

2. Thomas, 1783–1872, U.S. painter, born in England.

sully

Past participle: sullied
Gerund: sullying

Imperative
sully
sully

Present
I sully
you sully
he/she/it sullies
we sully
you sully
they sully

Preterite
I sullied
you sullied
he/she/it sullied
we sullied
you sullied
they sullied

Present Continuous
I am sullying
you are sullying
he/she/it is sullying
we are sullying
you are sullying
they are sullying

Present Perfect
I have sullied
you have sullied
he/she/it has sullied
we have sullied
you have sullied
they have sullied

Past Continuous
I was sullying
you were sullying
he/she/it was sullying
we were sullying
you were sullying
they were sullying

Past Perfect
I had sullied
you had sullied
he/she/it had sullied
we had sullied
you had sullied
they had sullied

Future
I will sully
you will sully
he/she/it will sully
we will sully
you will sully
they will sully

Future Perfect
I will have sullied
you will have sullied
he/she/it will have sullied
we will have sullied
you will have sullied
they will have sullied

Future Continuous
I will be sullying
you will be sullying
he/she/it will be sullying
we will be sullying
you will be sullying
they will be sullying

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been sullying
you have been sullying
he/she/it has been sullying
we have been sullying
you have been sullying
they have been sullying

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been sullying
you will have been sullying
he/she/it will have been sullying
we will have been sullying
you will have been sullying
they will have been sullying

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been sullying
you had been sullying
he/she/it had been sullying
we had been sullying
you had been sullying
they had been sullying

Conditional
I would sully
you would sully
he/she/it would sully
we would sully
you would sully
they would sully

Past Conditional
I would have sullied
you would have sullied
he/she/it would have sullied
we would have sullied
you would have sullied
they would have sullied

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	Sully - United States painter (born in England) of portraits and historical scenes (1783-1872) Thomas Sully
	2.	Sully - French statesman (1560-1641) Duc de Sully, Maxmilien de Bethune
Verb	1.	sully - place under suspicion or cast doubt upon; "sully someone's reputation" defile, taint, corrupt, cloud mar, deflower, impair, vitiate, spoil - make imperfect; "nothing marred her beauty"
	2.	sully - make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air; also used metaphorically; "The silver was tarnished by the long exposure to the air"; "Her reputation was sullied after the affair with a married man" maculate, tarnish, defile, stain blob, fleck, blot, spot - make a spot or mark onto; "The wine spotted the tablecloth" darken - tarnish or stain; "a scandal that darkened the family's good name"
	3.	sully - charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone; "The journalists have defamed me!" "The article in the paper sullied my reputation" asperse, besmirch, calumniate, defame, slander, smirch, denigrate, smear accuse, charge - blame for, make a claim of wrongdoing or misbehavior against; "he charged the director with indifference" assassinate - destroy or damage seriously, as of someone's reputation; "He assassinated his enemy's character" libel - print slanderous statements against; "The newspaper was accused of libeling him" badmouth, drag through the mud, malign, traduce - speak unfavorably about; "She badmouths her husband everywhere"

sully

verb

1. dishonour, ruin, disgrace, besmirch, smirch Reputations are easily sullied and business lost.

2. defile, dirty, stain, spot, spoil, contaminate, pollute, taint, tarnish, blemish, befoul I felt loath to sully the gleaming brass knocker by handling it.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

sully

verb

1. To make dirty:

befoul, begrime, besmirch, besoil, black, blacken, defile, dirty, smudge, smutch, soil.

2. To contaminate the reputation of:

befoul, besmear, besmirch, bespatter, blacken, cloud, denigrate, dirty, smear, smudge, smut, soil, spatter, stain, taint, tarnish.

Idioms: give a black eye to, sling mud on.

Translations

beschmutzen

macchiare

sully

[ˈsʌlɪ] VT (poet) [+ name, reputation] → manchar, mancillar

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

sully

vt reputation → besudeln; to sully one’s hands by doing something (fig) → sich (dat) → die Hände schmutzig machen, indem man etw tut

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

sully

[ˈsʌlɪ] vt (frm) → macchiare

References in classic literature ?

'A reptile contemporary has recently sweltered forth his black venom in the vain and hopeless attempt of sullying the fair name of our distinguished and excellent representative, the Honourable Mr.

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Tilney, within three yards of the place where they sat; he seemed to be moving that way, but he did not see her, and therefore the smile and the blush, which his sudden reappearance raised in Catherine, passed away without sullying her heroic importance.

View in context

He was afraid of sullying what his soul was brimful of.

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