sully

1. (transitive) To soil or stain; to dirty.Examples: "He did not wish to sully his hands with gardening."; "THoſe Ills your Anceſtors have done, / Romans, are now become your own ; / And they will coſt you dear, / Unleſs you ſoon repair / The falling Temples which the Gods provoke, / And Statues ſully’d yet with Sacrilegious Smoke."; "His nether garment was of yellow nankeen, closely fitted to the shape, and tied at his bunches of knees by large knots of white ribbon, a good deal sullied by use."Synonyms: sowltransitive

2. (transitive) To corrupt or damage.Examples: "She tried to sully her rival’s reputation with a suggestive comment."; "Ken Starr would later conclude that it was a mistake for him to expand into the Monica Lewinsky matter, largely because of the disastrous impact it would have on his Whitewater/Madison investigation and in sullying his otherwise sterling professional reputation."; "As a child, Jane [Eyre] is completely bereft of love, living a loveless existence, which sullies her character. Her emotions are raw and, on the surface, completely out of control."transitive

3. (intransitive, ergative) To become soiled or tarnished.Examples: "[G]old bears the fire, which ſilver doth not: but that is an excellency in nature, but it is nothing at all in uſe; for any dignity in uſe I know none, but that ſilvering will ſully and canker more than gilding; […]"ergativeintransitive