Dictionary entry

Sully

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Sul″ly (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p.Sullied (?); p. pr. & vb. n.Sullying (?).] [OE. sulien, AS. sylian, fr. sol mire; akin to G. suhle mire, sich, sühlen to wallow, Sw. söla to bemire, Dan. söle, Goth. bisaulijan to defile.] To soil; to dirty; to spot; to tarnish; to stain; to darken; — used literally and figuratively; as, to sully a sword; to sully a person's reputation.

Statues sullied yet with sacrilegious smoke. Roscommon.

No spots to sully the brightness of this solemnity. Atterbury.