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Sully vs Harm - What's the difference?

sully | harm |

As a verb sully

is to soil or stain; to dirty.

As a proper noun harm is

, low german, derived from herman, meaning "army man".

sully

English

Alternative forms

* (l)

Verb

  • to soil or stain; to dirty
    • He did not wish to sully his hands with gardening.
  • * Roscommon
    • statues sullied yet with sacrilegious smoke
  • to damage or corrupt
    • He did not wish to sully his reputation with an ill-mannered comment.
  • * Atterbury
    • no spots to sully the brightness of this solemnity
  • To become soiled or tarnished.
  • * Francis Bacon
    • Silvering will sully and canker more than gilding.

    harm

    English

    (wikipedia harm)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Injury; hurt; damage; detriment; misfortune.
  • * , chapter=13
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them. Soft heartedness caused more harm than good.}}
  • That which causes injury, damage, or loss.
  • * (William Shakespeare)
    • We, ignorant of ourselves, / Beg often our own harms .

    Usage notes

    * Adjectives often applied to "harm": bodily, physical, environmental, emotional, financial, serious, irreparable, potential, long-term, short-term, permanent, lasting, material, substantial.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To cause injury to another; to hurt; to cause damage to something.

    • Derived terms

    * do no harm * harmer * harmless * harm's way * self-harm * unharmed

    Anagrams

    * ----