Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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.

         Statues sullied yet with sacrilegious smoke.
                                                  --Roscommon.

         No spots to sully the brightness of this solemnity.
                                                  --Atterbury.

Sully \Sul"ly\, v. i.
   To become soiled or tarnished.

         Silvering will sully and canker more than gilding.
                                                  --Bacon.

Sully \Sul"ly\, n.; pl. {Sullies}.
   Soil; tarnish; stain.

         A noble and triumphant merit breaks through little
         spots and sullies in his reputation.     --Spectator.

Source : WordNet®

Sully
     n 1: United States painter (born in England) of portraits and
          historical scenes (1783-1872) [syn: {Thomas Sully}]
     2: French statesman (1560-1641) [syn: {Duc de Sully}, {Maxmilien
        de Bethune}]
     v 1: place under suspicion or cast doubt upon; "sully someone's
          reputation" [syn: {defile}, {corrupt}, {taint}, {cloud}]
     2: make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air; also used
        metaphorically; "The silver was tarnished by the long
        exposure to the air"; "Her reputation was sullied after
        the affair with a married man" [syn: {tarnish}, {stain}, {maculate},
         {defile}]
     3: charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good
        name and reputation of someone; "The journalists have
        defamed me!" "The article in the paper sullied my
        reputation" [syn: {defame}, {slander}, {smirch}, {asperse},
         {denigrate}, {calumniate}, {smear}, {besmirch}]