blemish

[ blem-ish ]
See synonyms for: blemishblemished on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)
  1. to destroy or diminish the perfection of: The book is blemished by those long, ineffective descriptions.

noun
  1. a mark that detracts from appearance, as a pimple or a scar.

  2. a defect or flaw; stain; blight: a blemish on his record.

Origin of blemish

1
1275–1325; Middle English (v.) <Anglo-French, Middle French blemiss-, long stem of ble(s)mir to make livid, perhaps <Old Low Franconian *blesmjan;see blaze2

synonym study For blemish

3. See defect.

Other words for blemish

Opposites for blemish

Other words from blemish

  • blem·ish·er, noun
  • un·blem·ished, adjective
  • un·blem·ish·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use blemish in a sentence

  • Through them alone came her interests and her emotions; consequently, she suffered no longer from her blemished life.

    Juana | Honore de Balzac
  • The sheet of paper had not been blemished but after a while Peter took it out and wrote the same thing on another.

    The Boy Grew Older | Heywood Broun
  • We speak with sadness; the honour of the Church has been not a little blemished in the time of Honorius.

  • Not a curve that was blemished by an angle or ruffled by asperities.

    Ormond, Volume II (of 3) | Charles Brockden Brown
  • There was the same blemished appearance as before, and the crack in the vase was now plainly visible.

    The Christian | Hall Caine

British Dictionary definitions for blemish

blemish

/ (ˈblɛmɪʃ) /


noun
  1. a defect; flaw; stain

verb
  1. (tr) to flaw the perfection of; spoil; tarnish

Origin of blemish

1
C14: from Old French blemir to make pale, probably of Germanic origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012