Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 10, 2026 is:
 
 
 
 
 besmirch &#149; \bih-SMERCH\&nbsp; &#149; verb
 To besmirch the reputation, name, honor, etc. of someone or something is to cause harm or damage to it.

// The allegations have besmirched the company's reputation.

<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/besmirch">See the entry ></a>
 
 
 
 Examples:
 "... in 1895, a ruthless public smear campaign hinging on <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Oscar-Wilde">[Oscar] Wilde's</a> queerness led to the author's imprisonment, outing, and eventual exile. ... Famously, the British press conspired to draw the dramatist's name through the mud, besmirching his literary legacy for generations to follow." — Brittany Allen, LitHub.com, 20 Oct. 2025
 
 
 
 Did you know?
 The prefix <a href="https://bit.ly/4qDqneQ">be-</a> has several applications in English; in the case of besmirch, it means "to make or cause to be." But what does <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smirch">smirch</a> itself mean? Since the 1400s, smirch has been used as a verb meaning "to make dirty, stained, or discolored." Besmirch joined English in the early 1600s, and today smirch and besmirch are both used when something—and especially something abstract, like a reputation—is being figuratively sullied, i.e., damaged or harmed. Besmirch isn't unique in its journey; English has a history of attaching be- to existing verbs to form synonyms. For example, <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/befriend">befriend</a> combines be- in its "to make or cause to be" sense with the verb <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/friend">friend</a>, meaning "to act as the friend of." <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/befuddle">Befuddle</a> combines be- in its "thoroughly" sense with <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fuddle">fuddle</a>, meaning "to stupefy with or as if with drink." And <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/befog">befog</a> combines be- in its "to provide or cover with" sense with <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fog">fog</a>, meaning "to cover with or as if with fog."

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