What does besmearing mean?
Besmearing is the act of covering something with a messy, sticky, or greasy substance, usually carelessly or excessively. It functions as the present participle and gerund of the verb besmear, allowing it to serve as a progressive verb form ("was besmearing") or as a noun-like gerund ("the besmearing of the walls"). The word is most often used literally — faces besmeared with cream, hands besmeared with paint — but it also carries a figurative sense in which to besmear someone's name is to sully their reputation, a use now largely ceded to its cousin besmirch. In register, besmearing leans literary and slightly old-fashioned; modern speech tends to prefer simpler phrasing like "covered in" or "slathered with." Its connotation is invariably negative: whatever is being applied is unwanted, unclean, or defiling, making the word well suited to descriptions of mess, vandalism, and moral stain alike.
Present participle of besmear: to cover something messily or excessively with a sticky, greasy, or dirty substance.
"The children were besmearing each other with mud before anyone could stop them."
Often used with a preposition indicating the substance: besmeared/besmearing with oil, paint, or dirt.
The action or process of smearing something over a surface.
"The constant besmearing of the windows made them nearly opaque."
"Besmear" predates "besmirch" by centuries — English speakers were literally smearing things long before they started figuratively ruining reputations with the near-identical word.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of besmearing
Besmearing derives from besmear, formed in Middle English from the prefix be- (here intensifying) plus smear, a verb of Germanic origin found in Old English as smerian and related to Old High German smirwen. The be- prefix construction dates to at least the Middle English period, making besmear one of many be- verbs (like bedew and besprinkle) that denote covering or affixing something to a surface. Its figurative relative besmirch arose later, by the sixteenth century, and shares both the prefix and the underlying idea of soiling. Cognates of the root smear appear across the Germanic languages, reflecting an ancient common vocabulary of anointing and daubing.
Related word forms
How besmearing is actually used
Somewhat literary or old-fashioned in tone; in everyday speech, speakers more often reach for "smearing," "covered in," or "slathered with." The figurative sense overlaps heavily with "besmirch," which has largely taken over that role in modern usage. The word carries an inherently negative connotation — one does not besmear with anything desirable.
Easily confused with besmearing
Besmearing refers to physically coating something with a messy substance, while besmirching means damaging someone's reputation and is almost always figurative.