Spread or daub a sticky, wet, or greasy substance messily over something, or to damage someone's reputation through false accusations.
From Old English 'smeoru' meaning 'grease' or 'fat,' and 'smerian' meaning 'to anoint.' The word's physical meaning predates its figurative use in reputation-damaging, which became common in medieval political contexts.
The word 'smeared' has meant 'to ruin someone's reputation' since medieval times, which is why we call dirty political attacks 'smear campaigns'—it literally compares damaging someone's good name to getting greasy gunk all over them!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.