Explore Smear through 10+ example sentences from English, with an explanation of the meaning and related words like smudge or spot. Ideal for language learners, writers and word enthusiasts.
Smear meaning
- To spread (a substance, especially one that colours or is dirty) across a surface by rubbing.
- To cover (a surface with a layer of some substance) by rubbing.
- To make something dirty.
Synonyms of Smear
Using Smear
- The main meaning on this page is: To spread (a substance, especially one that colours or is dirty) across a surface by rubbing. | To cover (a surface with a layer of some substance) by rubbing. | To make something dirty.
- Useful related words include: smirch, smudge, spot, blot.
- In the example corpus, smear often appears in combinations such as: to smear, smear campaign, smear test.
Context around Smear
- Average sentence length in these examples: 25.1 words
- Position in the sentence: 2 start, 10 middle, 8 end
- Sentence types: 19 statements, 1 questions, 0 exclamations
Corpus analysis for Smear
- In this selection, "smear" usually appears in the middle of the sentence. The average example has 25.1 words, and this corpus slice is mostly made up of statements.
- Around the word, previous, organised, falsely, test, tests and campaign stand out and add context to how "smear" is used.
- Recognizable usage signals include trying to smear or vilify and also a smear on every. That gives this page its own corpus information beyond isolated example sentences.
- By corpus frequency, "smear" sits close to words such as adventurous, alta and arranging, which helps place it inside the broader word index.
Example types with smear
The same corpus examples are grouped by length and sentence type, making it easier to see the contexts in which the word appears:
Did they drink white claw and smear poop on the walls? (11 words)
It also a smear on every law-enforcement officer in America. (11 words)
And it is of course wrong to smear a president as a veritable Hitlerian dictator. (15 words)
A cervical screening, known as a smear test, checks the health of the cervix and is a test to help prevent cancer, but in Joanne’s case, the results from her previous smear tests were negative prior to her diagnosis. (40 words)
Adani's conglomerate shed more than US$100 billion in value earlier this year after a US short-seller investment firm made explosive allegations of accounting fraud, which the Indian company dismissed as an organised "smear campaign". (37 words)
All of these agencies have had many problematic episodes in their pasts, but there is no evidence in this case that they willfully tried to smear Mr. Trump and his campaign with false allegations of collusion. (36 words)
Did they drink white claw and smear poop on the walls? (11 words)
Example sentences (20)
A cervical screening, known as a smear test, checks the health of the cervix and is a test to help prevent cancer, but in Joanne’s case, the results from her previous smear tests were negative prior to her diagnosis.
Adani's conglomerate shed more than US$100 billion in value earlier this year after a US short-seller investment firm made explosive allegations of accounting fraud, which the Indian company dismissed as an organised "smear campaign".
All of these agencies have had many problematic episodes in their pasts, but there is no evidence in this case that they willfully tried to smear Mr. Trump and his campaign with false allegations of collusion.
And it is of course wrong to smear a president as a veritable Hitlerian dictator.
As soon as Republican Mike Johnson was elected the new speaker of the House of Representatives, the Democrats’ flying monkeys in the mainstream media began scrambling for something to smear him with.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning accused unnamed parties of trying to smear or vilify China – even amid continued calls for China to provide full access to information from its Wuhan facility.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning accused unnamed parties of trying to smear or vilify China following the Department of Energy's report.
Did they drink white claw and smear poop on the walls?
Former CIA acting director Michael Morell recently credited Blinken with inspiring the notorious October 2020 letter, which President Biden used in a debate to falsely smear The Post’s reporting.
However, they fail to apprehend, or willfully neglect, the irreparable damage done by these smear and defamation campaigns.
In sharp contrast, his successor, Dan Rather, was forced to resign in disgrace for his lies in attempting to smear George W. Bush.
It also a smear on every law-enforcement officer in America.
It followed a smear campaign by Egyptian state media against her, after she accused Ahmed Shaaban, a senior intelligence officer, of blackmail.
Members of the government also said the remark was a smear against all those sharing the Modi surname, which is associated with the lower rungs of India’s traditional caste hierarchy.
Of all Scobie's allegations, the use of race to smear the Royal Family is the most poisonously insidious, guaranteed to leave a whiff of stigma and impossible to prove when false.
On Tuesday, X/Twitter filed a lawsuit against Media Matters for America (MMfA), the media arm of political smear artist David Brock.
Other agencies seem to struggle to determine definitive links between the CCP and racially charged smear campaigns.
The current process ensures women are contacted via letter with reminders to book their smear tests when they are due.
The police spokesperson maintained that the allegation was a ploy to smear the image of the command.
The results letter may also state that HPV was found, but there were no cell changes which will mean the patient would be invited for another smear test in 12 months’ time.
Common combinations with smear
These word pairs occur most frequently in English texts: