Meaning & use
tarnish
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
To make metal lose its shine, or to lose shine, through contact with air or moisture.
Grammar: Both ways: air tarnishes silver, or silver tarnishes.
Patterns
- tarnish something
- something tarnishes
Silver tarnishes quickly in damp air.
Salt water had tarnished the brass handles.
Copper will tarnish if you leave it unpolished.
verbtransitivefigurative
To damage the good name or quality of a person, brand or achievement.
Grammar: Takes an object: tarnish a reputation.
Patterns
- tarnish someone's reputation
- tarnish the image of something
The scandal tarnished the mayor's reputation.
One bad review will not tarnish the brand.
Cheating tarnished her victory.
noununcountable
A thin dull layer on the surface of a metal, or a loss of good reputation.
Grammar: Uncountable: a layer of tarnish.
Patterns
- tarnish on something
She rubbed the tarnish off the spoons.
A dark tarnish covered the old locket.
The affair left a tarnish on his career.
Word forms
| third person singular | tarnishes |
|---|---|
| past tense | tarnished |
| past participle | tarnished |
| -ing form | tarnishing |
Common combinations
- tarnish a reputation
- Rumors can tarnish a reputation overnight.
- tarnish an image
- The scandal tarnished the company's image.
- tarnished silver
- She polished the tarnished silver.
- tarnish easily
- Cheap jewelry tarnishes easily.
- tarnished legacy
- His tarnished legacy never fully recovered.
Synonyms and how they differ
- stain
- Stain suggests a lasting mark that is hard to remove, often on reputation.
- dull
- Dull only describes losing shine and does not apply to reputation as naturally.
- sully
- Sully is more formal and literary, used mainly for reputations.
- blacken
- Blacken suggests heavy, deliberate damage to someone's name.
Opposites
Word family
- tarnished adjective
- dulled or damaged
- untarnished adjective
- still shiny or still reputable
- tarnishable adjective
- able to lose shine
- tarnishing noun
- the act of damaging
Commonly confused: tarnish or tarnish vs varnish? tarnish or tarnish vs rust?
tarnish vs tarnish vs varnish
Varnish is a clear coating applied to wood, whereas tarnish is a dull layer formed on metal by reaction.
tarnish vs tarnish vs rust
Rust is the reddish coating on iron, whereas tarnish can form on silver or copper.
Practice
The scandal ______ the politician's reputation for honesty.
Choose one answer.
Tarnished means damaged. Polished, burnished and restored all mean the opposite, improving the reputation.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “tarnish”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.