1
as in to paint
to rub an oily or sticky substance over
the toddler gleefully smeared her hair and face with maple syrup
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in to libel
to make untrue and harmful statements about
he is willing to smear his opponent if doing so would win the election
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in slander
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of smear
Petra Guglielmetti, Glamour, 2 Apr. 2025
Players must be honest or risk having their reputation smeared during gossip hour after the game.
—Jason Mastrodonato, Mercury News, 24 Mar. 2025
Mark Davis, Newsweek, 13 Mar. 2025
These images can feed into AI systems that analyze blood smears or detect cellular anomalies.
—Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for smear
Verb
Hot tip: Don’t smear or drag—simply patting your concealer in will keep it from caking and creasing.
—Petra Guglielmetti, Glamour, 2 Apr. 2025
Players must be honest or risk having their reputation smeared during gossip hour after the game.
—Jason Mastrodonato, Mercury News, 24 Mar. 2025
Noun
Reagan was met with pushback from his era's media culture, but Trump and his supporters have endured a decade of smears and muzzles unlike any in American history.
—Mark Davis, Newsweek, 13 Mar. 2025
These images can feed into AI systems that analyze blood smears or detect cellular anomalies.
—Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for smear
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smear
Verb
-
To complete her look, Beyoncé painted her nails blue and accessorized with minimal jewelry.—
Emy LaCroix,
People.com,
4 Apr. 2025
-
Republicans like Dhillon Republicans painted a very different picture of Dhillon and her potential mission.—
David Lightman,
Sacbee.com,
4 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
As a new, inexpensive Chevrolet appeared in 1927 and The Dearborn Independent was sued for libeling a number of Jewish businessmen, Ford threw in the towel and apologized.—
George Pendle,
airmail.news,
15 Mar. 2025
-
Wright got so big on social media even Piers Morgan invited her to libel Jay Z and Beyonce on his platform.—
Rob Marriott,
VIBE.com,
30 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
Did Senate Majority Leader John Thune defend his colleague in the face of the president’s slander?—
Bret Stephens,
The Mercury News,
22 Mar. 2025
-
The pivotal addition to the the state Civil Code reads: Existing law provides that libel is a false and unprivileged written publication that injures the reputation and that slander is a false and unprivileged publication, orally uttered, that injures the reputation, as specified.—
Dominic Patten,
Deadline,
20 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
In the names of Jackie Robinson and the O’Malley family, don’t put a stain on one of the greatest Dodgers championships ever.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Apr. 2025
-
One shopper even spilled cranberry juice on theirs with no residual stains.—
Shea Simmons,
Southern Living,
5 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
Not to mention, it’s also constructed with durable stoneware and coated in a nonporous enamel glaze that is stain- and scratch-resistant, too.—
Alicia Geigel,
Southern Living,
9 Apr. 2025
-
How to Preserve Flowers with Beeswax The hack itself is simple—just melt some beeswax into a bowl or jar, grab a single flower of your choice, and dip it straight in until it's fully coated.—
Sophia Beams,
Better Homes & Gardens,
9 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
His tariffs were not based on the import taxes charged by other countries but by the size of each trade deficit, a calculation that instantly discredited the policy with many economists and investors.—
Time,
Time,
10 Apr. 2025
-
Bolsonaro’s efforts to discredit the election had already found allies abroad.—
Jon Lee Anderson,
New Yorker,
7 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
There are still rooms and contexts in which Germans — and now the head coach of the English national football team — are subject to infantile innuendo.—
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor,
New York Times,
28 Mar. 2025
-
But that hasn’t stopped the finger-pointing, the blame games, the innuendo.—
Brandon Kochkodin,
Forbes,
5 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
The only smudge on an otherwise record-setting year came when the confetti fell at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh and Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., as the Toros watched their opponents celebrated winning NCAA Division II national titles.—
Anthony De Leon,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Apr. 2025
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Non-shiny finishes are also less likely to show fingerprints and oily smudges that are so common in a busy space like the kitchen.—
Cameron Beall,
Southern Living,
5 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Smear.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smear. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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