sully

¹ American  

[suhl-ee] / ˈsʌl i /

verb (used with object)

sullied, sullying

1. to soil, stain, or tarnish.

   Synonyms:

   contaminate, blemish, taint

2. to mar the purity or luster of; defile.

   to sully a reputation.

   Synonyms:

   dishonor, disgrace, dirty

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verb (used without object)

sullied, sullying

1. to become sullied, soiled, or tarnished.

noun

plural

sullies

1. Obsolete. a stain; soil.

Sully ² American  

[suhl-ee, sy-lee] / ˈsʌl i, süˈli /

noun

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

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

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sully ¹ British  

/ ˈsʌlɪ /

verb

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

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noun

1. a stain

2. the act of sullying

Sully ² British  

/ sylli, ˈsʌlɪ /

noun

1. 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

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Other Word Forms

• sulliable adjective
• unsulliable adjective

Etymology

Origin of sully

First recorded in 1585–95; origin uncertain

Explanation

To sully is to attack someone's good name and to try to ruin his reputation. If you spread false rumors that there's chicken stock in the vegetarian entree at Joe's Diner, you would sully Joe's good reputation. Sully can also mean to tarnish or make spotty. It's easy to remember this meaning when you know that sully comes from the Middle French word souiller, meaning, "make dirty." For example, dripping chocolate sauce onto the table will sully your mother's new white tablecloth. Another meaning of sully is to corrupt or cast suspicion on. If an automaker recalls millions of vehicles due to safety problems, it doesn't exactly inspire confidence — in fact, it may sully their brand.

Example Sentences

Macron almost immediately responded on X: "Shame on those who wanted to sully his memory," he wrote.

From Barron's • Oct. 9, 2025

Introducing a two-tier system to the World Test Championship would be "greedy" and would "sully the game", says former England fast bowler Steven Finn.

From BBC • Jan. 7, 2025

Piers Morgan is staying true to form in his latest criticism of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, trying to make something out of nothing as he continuously endeavors to sully their reputations.

From Salon • Mar. 25, 2024

“I don’t want to sully it with people who are looking to — I mean, I don’t look at the comments. People tell me, ‘God, they’re just murdering you.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 30, 2023

And in a different way, I didn’t want to sully the kitchen table with the kinds of things I’d seen and heard during the day; it just seemed best to keep it inside.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover

Related Words

• besmirch
• blacken
• corrupt
• debase
• defile
• discolor
• disgrace
• dishonor
• smear
• smudge
• taint
• tar
• tarnish