Word Meanings - TARNISH - Book Publishers vocabulary database

To soil, or change the appearance of, especially by an alternation induced by the air, or by dust, or the like; to diminish, dull, or destroy the luster of; to sully; as, to tarnish a metal; to tarnish gilding; to tarnish the purity of

Additional info about word: TARNISH

To soil, or change the appearance of, especially by an alternation induced by the air, or by dust, or the like; to diminish, dull, or destroy the luster of; to sully; as, to tarnish a metal; to tarnish gilding; to tarnish the purity of color. "Tarnished lace." Fuller. Used also figuratively; as, to tarnish one's honor. Syn. -- To sully; stain; dim. (more info) to OS. dernian to hide, AS. dernan, dyrnan, OHG. tarni hidden, OS.

Possible synonyms: (Same meaning words of TARNISH)

• Asperse
• Slander
• calumniate
• bespatter
• befoul
• defy
• attack
• defame
• vilify
• traduce
• scandalize
• malign
• detract from
• blacken
• tarnish
• backbite
• Blemish
• Spot
• blur
• blot
• flaw
• speck
• fault
• imperfection
• stain
• daub
• defacement
• discoloration
• disfigurement
• disgrace
• dishonor
• defect
• Blot Obscure
• spoil
• sully
• spot
• discolor
• pollute
• obliterate
• erase
• blotch
• smear
• smutch
• Pollute
• Befoul
• taint
• poison
• corrupt
• contaminate
• soil
• vitiate
• deprave
• Smear
• Daub
• plaster
• spatter
• besmear
• coat
• begrime
• varnish
• incrust

Possible antonyms: (opposite words of TARNISH)

• Mend
• repair
• purify
• cleanse
• correct
• ameliorate
• better
• Purify
• wash
• absolve
• ornament
• decorate
• emblazon
• signalize
• honor

Related words: (words related to TARNISH)

• MALIGNANT
  Tending to produce death; threatening a fatal issue; virulent; as, malignant diphtheria. Malignant pustule , a very contagious disease, transmitted to man from animals, characterized by the formation, at the point of reception of the virus, of
• MALIGNITY
  1. The state or quality of being malignant; disposition to do evil; virulent enmity; malignancy; malice; spite. 2. Virulence; deadly quality. His physicians discerned an invincible malignity in his disease. Hayward. 3. Extreme evilness of nature
• TRADUCENT
  Slanderous. Entick.
• DEFAMER
  One who defames; a slanderer; a detractor; a calumniator.
• BLOTCH
  A large pustule, or a coarse eruption. Foul scurf and blotches him defile. Thomson. (more info) black, as bleach is akin to bleak. See Black, a., or cf. Blot a 1. A blot or spot, as of color or of ink; especially a large or irregular spot. Also
• BESMEAR
  To smear with any viscous, glutinous matter; to bedaub; to soil. Besmeared with precious balm. Spenser.
• DECORATE
  To deck with that which is becoming, ornamental, or honorary; to adorn; to beautify; to embellish; as, to decorate the person; to decorate an edifice; to decorate a lawn with flowers; to decorate the mind with moral beauties; to decorate a hero
• HONORABLE
  1. Worthy of honor; fit to be esteemed or regarded; estimable; illustrious. Thy name and honorable family. Shak. 2. High-minded; actuated by principles of honor, or a scrupulous regard to probity, rectitude, or reputation. 3. Proceeding from an
• OBSCURENESS
  Obscurity. Bp. Hall.
• SPECK
  The blubber of whales or other marine mammals; also, the fat of the hippopotamus. Speck falls , falls or ropes rove through blocks for hoisting the blubber and bone of whales on board a whaling vessel.
• FAULTINESS
  Quality or state of being faulty. Round, even to faultiness. Shak.
• PURIFY
  1. To make pure or clear from material defilement, admixture, or imperfection; to free from extraneous or noxious matter; as, to purify liquors or metals; to purify the blood; to purify the air. 2. Hence, in figurative uses: To free from guilt
• SIGNALIZE
  1. To make signal or eminent; to render distinguished from what is common; to distinguish. It is this passion which drives men to all the ways we see in use of signalizing themselves. Burke. 2. To communicate with by means of a signal; as, a ship
• BLACKEN
  Etym: 1. To make or render black. While the long funerals blacken all the way. Pope 2. To make dark; to darken; to cloud. "Blackened the whole heavens." South. 3. To defame; to sully, as reputation; to make infamous; as, vice blackens
• CORRECTLY
  In a correct manner; exactly; acurately; without fault or error.
• SMEAR DAB
  The sand fluke .
• VITIATE
  1. To make vicious, faulty, or imperfect; to render defective; to injure the substance or qualities of; to impair; to contaminate; to spoil; as, exaggeration vitiates a style of writing; sewer gas vitiates the air. A will vitiated and growth out
• SLANDEROUS
  1. Given or disposed to slander; uttering slander. "Slanderous tongue." Shak. 2. Embodying or containing slander; calumnious; as, slanderous words, speeches, or reports. -- Slan"der*ous*ly, adv. -- Slan"der*ous*ness, n.
• OBSCURER
  One who, or that which, obscures.
• CORRUPTIONIST
  One who corrupts, or who upholds corruption. Sydney Smith.
• SUSTAIN
  F. soutenir (the French prefix is properly fr. L. subtus below, fr. sub under), L. sustinere; pref. sus- + tenere to hold. See 1. To keep from falling; to bear; to uphold; to support; as, a foundation sustains the superstructure; a beast sustains
• PICK-FAULT
  One who seeks out faults.
• EMPLASTER
  See WISEMAN (more info) plaster or salve, fr. Gr.
• INDEFECTIBLE
  Not defectible; unfailing; not liable to defect, failure, or decay. An indefectible treasure in the heavens. Barrow. A state of indefectible virtue and happiness. S. Clarke.