Added 9 October 2026
sully
/ˈsʌli/ noun
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about sully at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
verb
-
Place under suspicion or cast doubt upon.
sully someone's reputation
-
Make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air; also used metaphorically.
The silver was tarnished by the long exposure to the air
-
Charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone.
The journalists have defamed me!
Origin
From Middle English sulen, sulien (“to become dirty; to defile, pollute, taint”), from Old English sylian (“to soil, pollute; to sully”), from Proto-West Germanic *sulwōn, *sulwijan (“to make dirty; to sully”), from Proto-Indo-European *sūl- (“thick liquid, muck”), perhaps conflated partially with Old French souillier (“to soil”) (modern French souiller) from the same Germanic source. The word is cognate with Danish søle (“to sully”), West Flemish seulewen (“to sully”) (Middle Dutch soluwen (“to sully”)), German sühlen (“to sully”), Old Saxon sulian (“to sully”), Swedish söla (“to sully”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)