smudge

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

You can distort a timeline, smudge the facts, and leave others out to pursue one angle in favor of another, depending on your agenda.

From Slate • Oct. 13, 2025

While we followed the police, we could see the boat – a thin black smudge on a milky sea – to our left.

From BBC • Jun. 17, 2025

The coolest collegiate women’s basketball player on the planet routinely produces plays so picturesque, every smudge is briefly met with a pained annoyance that inspires her to retrieve the brush and swirl anew.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2024

At church services across the country, clergy members will smudge crosses on parishioners’ foreheads, murmuring, “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

From New York Times • Feb. 14, 2024

A smudge of paint on the back of one wrist.

From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng