besully

B3E1S1U1L1L1Y4

verb

To make sullied or soiled; defile.

Similar
bedirtybefileblemishsullyassoilbeclartbedaubimbrue (especially with blood)
OriginMiddle English bisulien ← Old English besylian →
Scrabble 12
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Meanings

verbbesully (third-person singular simple present besullies, present participle besullying, simple past and past participle besullied)

present singular third person besullies · participle present besullying · participle past besullied · past besullied

  1. transitiveTo make sullied or soiled; defile.

    Let us avoid them as we would those emissaries of Satan whose glory is to wither piety, to blot out godliness from the ... who would extinguish the “Light of the Week”—who would besully the “Pearl of Days”—[…]

    1865, Robert Gillan, The Decalogue: a Series of Discourses on the Ten Commandments

    Synonyms: bedirty, befile, blemish, sully, assoil, beclart, bedaub, bedirty

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo make sullied or soiled; defile.

Similar
bedirtybefileblemishsullyassoilbeclartbedaubbedirtyimbrue (especially with blood)bedizenbefilebefilthbefoulbegrimeberaybeshitbesmearbesmirchbewray
Also see
assoilbeclartbedaubbedirtybedizenbefilebefilthbefoulbegrimeberaybeshitbesmearbesmirchbewrayblackenblurclatcontaminatedarkendefiledirtendirtyeltfilefoilfoulgunkgunk upinquinatescungeslottersmattersmearsmirchsmudgesmutsmutchsoilsosssowlspotstainsullowsullytarnish

Origin

  1. Old Englishbesylian“to soil, stain”
  2. Middle Englishbisulien
  3. Englishbesully

From Middle English bisulien, from Old English besylian (“to soil, stain”), equivalent to be- + sully.

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

besully. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/besully

MLA

“besully.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/besully. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “besully,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/besully.

Source: besully on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.