"smirches" in the noun sense
1. smudge, spot, blot, daub, smear, smirch, slur
a blemish made by dirt
"he had a smudge on his cheek"
2. blot, smear, smirch, spot, stain
an act that brings discredit to the person who does it
"he made a huge blot on his copybook"
"smirches" in the verb sense
1. smirch, besmirch
smear so as to make dirty or stained
2. defame, slander, smirch, asperse, denigrate, calumniate, smear, sully, besmirch
charge falsely or with malicious intent attack the good name and reputation of someone
"The journalists have defamed me!"
"The article in the paper sullied my reputation"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
Princeton University "About WordNet®."
WordNet®. Princeton University. 2010.
View WordNet® License