besmirch

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 9, 2022 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>besmirch</strong> &#149; \bih-SMERCH\&nbsp; &#149; <em>verb</em><br /> <p><em>Besmirch</em> means "to cause harm or damage to the purity, luster, or beauty of something."</p> <p>//The allegations have <em>besmirched</em> the politician's reputation.</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/besmirch">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"In a must-have game for the season, Texas must have had one blown opportunity after another in a contest <em>besmirched</em> with critical personal foul penalties, poor blocking and Thompson's first <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pick-six">pick six</a>, a play that completely turned the outcome of the game. And perhaps the season." — Kirk Bohls, <em>The Austin (Texas) American-Statesman</em>, 17 Oct. 2021</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>Since the prefix <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/be-#h5">be-</a></em> in <em>besmirch</em> means "to make or cause to be," when you besmirch something, you cause it to have a smirch. What's a smirch? A smirch is a stain, and to smirch something is to stain it or make it dirty. By extension, the verb <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smirch">smirch</a></em> came to mean "to bring discredit or disgrace on." <em>Smirch</em> and <em>besmirch</em>, then, mean essentially the same thing.</p> <br /><br /> </p> </font>