OZDIC

sully

UK /ˈsʌli/ US /ˈsʌli/
name 5verb 3noun 1

Definitions

verb

1

To soil or stain; to dirty.

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.

2

To corrupt or damage.

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.

3

To become soiled or tarnished.

[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; […]

noun

1

A blemish.

You laying these ſlight ſallies on my ſonne, / As t'were a thing a little ſoyld with working, […]

After all, it must be confessed, that a noble and triumphant merit often breaks through and dissipates these little spots and sullies in its reputation; but if, by a mistaken pursuit after fame, or through human infirmity any false step be made in the more momentous concerns of life, the whole scheme of ambitious designs is broken and disappointed.

name

1

A surname.

2

A diminutive of the male given name Sullivan.

3

A placename:

4

A placename:

5

A placename:

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