Blemish
noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level
Definitions
- 1 A small flaw which spoils the appearance of something, a stain, a spot.
"Ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats."
- 2 a mark or flaw that spoils the appearance of something (especially on a person's body) wordnet
- 3 A moral defect; a character flaw.
"As piety is the peculiar ornament of old people, so the want of it is a peculiar blemish in their character."
- 1 To spoil the appearance of. transitive
"we see ordinarie examples by this licence which wonderfully blemisheth the authoritie and lustre of our law, never to stay upon one sentence, but to run from one to another judge, to decide one same case."
- 2 add a flaw or blemish to; make imperfect or defective wordnet
- 3 To tarnish (reputation, character, etc.); to defame. transitive
"There had nothing passed betwixt us that might blemish reputation."
- 4 mar or impair with a flaw wordnet
- 5 mar or spoil the appearance of wordnet
Example
More examples"There is yet one minor blemish."
Etymology
From Middle English blemisshen, blemissen, from Old French blemiss-, stem of Old French blemir, blesmir (“make pale, injure, wound, bruise”) (French blêmir), from Old Frankish *blesmijan, *blasmijan (“to make pale”), from Old Frankish *blasmī (“pale”), from Proto-Germanic *blasaz (“white, pale”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to shine”). Cognate with Dutch bles (“white spot”), German blass (“pale”), Old English āblered (“bare, uncovered, bald, shaven”).
More for "blemish"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.