Tarnish Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

The meaning of TARNISH is to dull or destroy the luster of by or as if by air, dust, or dirt : soil, stain. How to use tarnish in a sentence. Login SignUp Hello, Games&Quizzes Thesaurus WordoftheDay Features BuyingGuide M-WBooks JoinMWU MyWordsMyWords ViewRecents Account LogOut tarnish verb SaveWord tar·​nish |\ˈtär-nish \ tarnished;tarnishing;tarnishes Definitionoftarnish (Entry1of2) transitiveverb 1 :todullordestroythelusterofbyorasifbyair,dust,ordirt:soil,stain 2a :todetractfromthegoodqualityof:vitiate hisfinedreamsnowslightlytarnished b :tobringdisgraceon:sully thescandalhastarnishedhisreputation intransitiveverb :tobecometarnished tarnish noun Definitionoftarnish (Entry2of2) :somethingthattarnishes especially :afilmofchemicallyalteredmaterialonthesurfaceofametal(suchassilver) OtherWordsfromtarnish Synonyms MoreExampleSentences PhrasesContainingtarnish LearnMoreAbouttarnish OtherWordsfromtarnish Verb tarnishable \ ˈtär-​ni-​shə-​bəl \ adjective Synonymsfortarnish Synonyms:Verb blemish,darken,mar,poison,spoil,stain,taint,touch,vitiate VisittheThesaurusforMore  ExamplesoftarnishinaSentence Verb Somefoodswilltarnishsilver. Thescandaltarnishedhisreputation. Noun apolishthatremovestarnish RecentExamplesontheWeb:Verb Thebrandboaststhattheirpiecesdon’ttarnishandarelong-lasting. — ElizabethAyoola,Essence,16June2022 Becarefulwithplatedjewelry,asplatingcanwearoff,andwhat’sleftunderneathcantarnishovertime. — Vogue,5June2022 Crypto’schallengescouldalsotarnishsomeoftheentitieswho’vealignedwiththem. — ToryNewmyer,StevenZeitchik,AnchorageDailyNews,13May2022 ForthosewhoknewHarwood,theFourSeasonsaffairwasn’tenoughtotarnishhislegacy. — BobSandrick,cleveland,26Apr.2022 HittingJeddahaheadofthesportingeventcouldtarnishtheimagethecountryislookingtodevelopasabusinessandleisuredestination,andhighlightstherisksofacontinuationoftheYemenwar. — AnthonyDiPaola,Bloomberg.com,26Mar.2022 OnSaturday,MarkMagsayowilltrytotarnishthatlegacywithhisownfists. — JoshKatzowitz,Forbes,22Jan.2022 Crypto’schallengescouldalsotarnishsomeoftheentitieswho’vealignedwiththem. — ToryNewmyer,StevenZeitchik,AnchorageDailyNews,13May2022 Crypto’schallengescouldalsotarnishsomeoftheentitieswho’vealignedwiththem. — StevenZeitchik,WashingtonPost,12May2022 RecentExamplesontheWeb:Noun Tocleanawaythetarnish,makethissafe,nontoxiccleaningsolution:squeezethejuiceofonelemonintoasmallbowl. — JosephTruini,PopularMechanics,16Feb.2022 Ifthere'sstillsomeresidualtarnish,repeatthepoulticetreatment. — JosephTruini,PopularMechanics,16Feb.2022 Thecombinationofbrightcopperwithpatchesoftarnishisfarlessattractivethancopperwithamoreevenpatina. — WashingtonPost,10Jan.2022 Sowhenonejournalistoroutletmakesquestionablechoices,thetarnishcaneasilyspreadtoothers. — MariaPuente,USATODAY,10Aug.2021 Hisfatherdidnotknowaboutalltheseeyes,allovertheworld,seeingthelaminatewoodgrainofhisdressertop,thecloudytarnishonthesilvercross. — SarahBraunstei,TheNewYorker,2Aug.2021 Thesheen,easyapplicationandno-tarnishfactorcontributetoapewter-typefinish. — BrendaYenke,cleveland,20May2021 AndifthatonlytookalittleofthelusteroffNolan’slegacy,histiffwithJonDanielsappliedthetarnish. — KevinSherrington,DallasNews,11May2021 ThefinalquestioniswhethertheseeffortstobemoreaccessiblecanshineoffthetarnishthatisontheRoyalbrand. — PeterSuciu,Forbes,6May2021 SeeMore Theseexamplesentencesareselectedautomaticallyfromvariousonlinenewssourcestoreflectcurrentusageoftheword'tarnish.'ViewsexpressedintheexamplesdonotrepresenttheopinionofMerriam-Websteroritseditors.Sendusfeedback. PhrasesContainingtarnish anti-tarnish anti-tarnish FirstKnownUseoftarnish Verb 15thcentury,inthemeaningdefinedattransitivesense1Noun 1684,inthemeaningdefinedabove HistoryandEtymologyfortarnish Verb MiddleEnglishternysshen,fromMiddleFrenchterniss-,stemofternir,probablyofGermanicorigin;akintoOldHighGermantarnantohide LearnMoreAbouttarnish Sharetarnish PosttheDefinitionoftarnishtoFacebook SharetheDefinitionoftarnishonTwitter TimeTravelerfortarnish Thefirstknownuseoftarnishwas inthe15thcentury Seemorewordsfromthesamecentury DictionaryEntriesNeartarnish tarnation tarnish tarnishedplantbug SeeMoreNearbyEntries  Statisticsfortarnish LastUpdated 30Jun2022 Look-upPopularity CitethisEntry “Tarnish.”Merriam-Webster.comDictionary,Merriam-Webster,https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tarnish.Accessed4Jul.2022. Style:MLA MLA Chicago APA Merriam-Webster MoreDefinitionsfortarnish tarnish verb tar·​nish |\ˈtär-nish \ tarnished;tarnishing KidsDefinitionoftarnish (Entry1of2) 1 :tomakeorbecomedull,dim,ordiscolored 2 :tobringdisgraceorruin Thescandaltarnishedhisreputation. tarnish noun KidsDefinitionoftarnish (Entry2of2) :asurfacecoatingformedduringtarnishing MorefromMerriam-Websterontarnish Nglish:TranslationoftarnishforSpanishSpeakers BritannicaEnglish:TranslationoftarnishforArabicSpeakers Britannica.com:Encyclopediaarticleabouttarnish WORDOFTHEDAY Yankee SeeDefinitionsandExamples» GetWordoftheDaydailyemail! TestYourVocabulary WordsNamedAfterPeople Namesakeoftheleotard,JulesLéotardhadwhatprofession? Acrobat Judge Firefighter Surgeon Testyourvisualvocabularywithour10-questionchallenge! TAKETHEQUIZ Adailychallengeforcrosswordfanatics. TAKETHEQUIZ SubscribetoAmerica'slargestdictionaryandgetthousandsmoredefinitionsandadvancedsearch—adfree! 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