Meaning & use
to burnish
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Meanings
verbtransitiveformal
to rub a metal or other hard surface until it shines.
Grammar: Takes an object: burnish the silver.
Patterns
- burnish something
- burnish something with something
- be burnished to a shine
He burnished the brass handles until they gleamed.
The workers burnished the metal with a soft cloth.
The old coins had been burnished to a bright shine.
verbtransitivefigurative
to improve or protect the way people see someone or something.
Grammar: Takes an object, often reputation, image or credentials.
Patterns
- burnish a reputation
- burnish an image
- burnish your credentials
The charity hoped the event would burnish its reputation.
The company spent millions to burnish its image after the scandal.
A prize like this can burnish a young writer's credentials.
Word forms
| third person singular | burnishes |
|---|---|
| past tense | burnished |
| past participle | burnished |
| -ing form | burnishing |
Common combinations
- burnish a reputation
- The award helped burnish her reputation as a serious scientist.
- burnish an image
- The rebrand was meant to burnish the airline's image.
- burnish the metal
- They burnished the metal until it reflected the light.
- brightly burnished
- The brightly burnished surface looked almost like gold.
- burnish your credentials
- He took the course to burnish his credentials.
Synonyms and how they differ
- polish
- Polish is the everyday word for making a surface shine and can also mean improving a skill; burnish is more formal and often suggests metal.
- buff
- Buff means to rub a surface to clean or shine it, often with a machine or cloth, and is less literary than burnish.
- enhance
- Enhance means to improve something in general; burnish is used mainly about reputation or image.
Opposites
Word family
- burnished adjective
- Shiny because it has been rubbed, or, figuratively, polished and impressive.
- burnisher noun
- A tool or person that polishes a surface.
Commonly confused: to burnish or furnish? to burnish or varnish?
to burnish vs furnish
Furnish means to supply or provide something, or to put furniture in a room; burnish means to polish or improve an image.
to burnish vs varnish
Varnish is a clear liquid put on wood to protect it; burnish is the act of rubbing a surface to make it shine.
Practice
The mayor gave a speech to ______ his reputation after the scandal.
Choose one answer.
Burnish a reputation is a common figurative pattern meaning to improve how people see you. Furnish means to supply, varnish means to coat wood, and banish means to send away, so none of them fits this meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “to burnish”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.