Meaning & use
unsully
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Meaning
verbtransitiveliteraryformal
To keep something pure or free from damage, especially a reputation; to remove a stain from.
Grammar: Takes an object: unsully someone's name. Often used in the passive: his reputation was unsullied.
Patterns
- unsully someone's reputation
- unsully someone's name
- unsully something
She worked hard to unsully her family's name after the scandal.
The hero's actions helped unsully the kingdom's honor.
He tried to unsully his reputation by publishing a public apology.
Word forms
| third person singular | unsullies |
|---|---|
| past tense | unsullied |
| past participle | unsullied |
| present participle | unsullying |
Common combinations
- unsully a reputation
- The politician tried to unsully his reputation after the scandal.
- unsully a name
- She fought to unsully her father's name in court.
- unsullied reputation
- The judge had an unsullied reputation for fairness.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cleanse
- Cleanse means to make clean, often physically or spiritually; unsully specifically means to remove a stain from a reputation or honor.
- purify
- Purify means to remove impurities; unsully is more about restoring a good name.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: unsully or unsullied?
unsully vs unsullied
Unsullied is the adjective meaning not stained; unsully is the verb meaning to remove a stain.
Practice
What does 'unsully' mean?
Choose one answer.
Unsurprisingly, 'unsully' means to keep something pure or free from damage, especially a reputation. Option 0 is the opposite, option 2 is too general, and option 3 is unrelated.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “unsully”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.