besmear
"besmear" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“besmear” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To smear over, to smear all over, to daub.
Corpus desk
Index EN-besmear · besmear · English
besmear · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "B" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | besmear |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “besmear” in English
Rare enough to double-check
besmear is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for besmear in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English *bismerwen, from Old English besmirwan, besmierwan (“to besmear”), equivalent to be- + smear. Cognate with Dutch besmeren (“to besmear”), German beschmieren (“to besmear”). The correct English form is besmear, spelled B-E-S-M-E-A-R.
Definition
- 1To smear over, to smear all over, to daub.
- 2To damage the reputation of, to tarnish, to sully.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how besmear appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I long to ſee thee backe returne from thence, That I may view theſe milk-white ſteeds of mine. All loden with the heads of killed men, And from their knees, euen to their hoofes below, Beſmer’d with blood, that makes a dainty ſhow.
[…] carters and coachmen, who make in imitation thereof a composition of grease and tar, with which they besmear the inside of the naves of wheels and the extremitys of the axis upon which they move.
Etymology
From Middle English *bismerwen, from Old English besmirwan, besmierwan (“to besmear”), equivalent to be- + smear. Cognate with Dutch besmeren (“to besmear”), German beschmieren (“to besmear”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.