tarnish
pronunciation
How to pronounce tarnish in British English:
UK [ˈtɑːnɪʃ]
How to pronounce tarnish in American English:
US [ˈtɑːrnɪʃ]
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- Noun:
- discoloration of metal surface caused by oxidation
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- Verb:
- make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air; also used metaphorically
Word Origin
- tarnish (v.)
- mid-15c. (transitive), from present participle stem of Middle French ternir "dull the luster or brightness of, make dim" (15c.), probably from Old French terne (adj.) "dull, dark," which according to Diez is from a Germanic source cognate with Old High German tarnjan "to conceal, hide," Old English dyrnan "to hide, darken," from Proto-Germanic *darnjaz (see dern), but there are difficulties of form, sense, and date. Intransitive sense from 1670s. Figurative sense is from 1690s. Related: Tarnished; tarnishing.
- tarnish (n.)
- 1713, from tarnish (v.).
Example
- 1. " We have a proud reputation , but mustn 't tarnish it for the sake of making a quick buck , " he said .
- 2. Sarkozy has said that accusations of illegal campaign financing were an attempt to tarnish his reputation .
- 3. In his follow-up article , he said his questioners deemed the case a state secret because , he later learned , they feared that its revelation might tarnish luoyang 's quest to become a " civilized city " as part of a national competition .
- 4. The issue could tarnish u. s. - japan relations ; as u. s. assistant secretary of state kurt campbell told reporters during a trip to tokyo in february , " the situation has to be resolved in order to ensure that u. s. - japan relations continue on such a positive course . "
- 5. Saeed leylaz , a political analyst in iran , said he believed that his country wanted to use ms. saberi in negotiations with the united states , but would not keep her for long because it would tarnish its human rights record .