Sully | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Sŭl'ly, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. SULLIED; p. pr. & vb. n. SULLYING.] [Fr. souiller. See SOIL.]

Sense 1. To soil; to dirt; to spot; to tarnish. “Statues sullied yet with sacrilegious smoke.” Roscommon.

Sense 2. To tarnish; to darken. Let there be no spots to sully the brightness of this solemnity. Atterbury.

Sense 3. To stain; to tarnish, as the purity of reputation; as, virtues sullied by slander; character sullied by infamous vices.

verbintransitive

v. i. To be soiled or tarnished.

Silvering will sully and canker more than gilding. Bacon.

noun

n. Soil; tarnish; spot. A noble and triumphant merit breaks through little spots and sullies on his reputation. Spectator.