Sully vs Tarnished - What's the difference?
sully | tarnished |
to soil or stain; to dirty
* Roscommon
to damage or corrupt
* Atterbury
To become soiled or tarnished.
* Francis Bacon
(tarnish)
Oxidation or discoloration, especially of a decorative metal exposed to air.
To oxidize or discolor due to oxidation.
To soil, sully, damage or compromise
(figurative) To lose its lustre or attraction; to become dull.
* Dryden
As verbs the difference between sully and tarnished
is that sully is to soil or stain; to dirty while tarnished is (tarnish).sully
English
Alternative forms
* (l)Verb
- He did not wish to sully his hands with gardening.
- statues sullied yet with sacrilegious smoke
- He did not wish to sully his reputation with an ill-mannered comment.
- no spots to sully the brightness of this solemnity
- Silvering will sully and canker more than gilding.
tarnished
English
Verb
(head)tarnish
English
Noun
(-)Verb
(es)- Careful storage of silver will prevent it from tarnishing .
- He is afraid that he will tarnish his reputation if he disagrees.
- Till thy fresh glories, which now shine so bright, / Grow stale and tarnish with our daily sight.