From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Sully \Sul"ly\, v. i.
To become soiled or tarnished.
[1913 Webster]
Silvering will sully and canker more than gilding.
--Bacon.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Sully \Sul"ly\, n.; pl. Sullies.
Soil; tarnish; stain.
[1913 Webster]
A noble and triumphant merit breaks through little
spots and sullies in his reputation. --Spectator.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Sully \Sul"ly\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sullied; p. pr. & vb. n.
Sullying.] [OE. sulien, AS. sylian, fr. sol mire; akin to
G. suhle mire, sich, s["u]hlen to wallow, Sw. s["o]la to
bemire, Dan. s["o]le, Goth. bisaulijan to defile.]
To soil; to dirty; to spot; to tarnish; to stain; to darken;
-- used literally and figuratively; as, to sully a sword; to
sully a person's reputation.
[1913 Webster]
Statues sullied yet with sacrilegious smoke.
--Roscommon.
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No spots to sully the brightness of this solemnity.
--Atterbury.
[1913 Webster]