How to use tarnish in a sentence

23 example sentences · noun, verb

Tarnish means oxidation or discoloration, especially of a decorative metal exposed to air. Example: “Careful storage of silver will prevent it from tarnishing.”

Examples of tarnish by meaning

nounOxidation or discoloration, especially of a decorative metal exposed to air.

Limiting the use of silver to special occasions might invite tarnish unless the pieces are carefully protected.1987 July 30, Joseph Deitch, “Removing Tarnish From Silverware”, in The New York Times

verbTo oxidize or discolor due to oxidation.

Careful storage of silver will prevent it from tarnishing.

verbTo compromise, damage, soil, or sully.

He is afraid that she will tarnish his reputation if he disagrees with her.
The greed that many players show tarnishes the game.1991 April 7, “Players' Greed Tarnishes Game”, in The New York Times
There are normally anti-embarrassment clauses in such arrangements and, from a corporate social responsibility point of view, the upside of standing by a tarnished individual is often outweighed by the downside.2022 March 11, David Hytner, “Chelsea are in crisis but there is no will to leave club on their knees”, in The Guardian

More sentences with tarnish

A good silver polish will remove tarnish easily.From the entry polish
The campaign degenerated into mutual mudslinging, each candidate trying to tarnish the other's reputation and looking bad in the process.From the entry mudslinging
The governor's reputation was tarnished after an anonymous blogger dropped a truth nuke exposing her network of shadowy allies.From the entry truth nuke
This infamous deed tarnishes all involved.From the entry infamous
What in the world am I going to do with tarnished silver ware?2011, Tonya Kappes, Carpe Bead'em. From the entry ware
This year, as usual, the tarnished Nickel Plate cannot make the grade.1938 October 17, “Tarnished Plate”, in TIME, archived from the original on 26 Aug 2010. From the entry make the grade
This means applying a thin coating of rhodium electrolytically, which prevents tarnishing.1935 February 9, “New products”, in Business Week, number 284, New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, page 29. From the entry rhodanize
The tarnished mirror on the wall distorted and reproved her angry face in its mild mauveness.1923, Elizabeth Bowen, “Coming Home”, in Encounters, page 195. From the entry mauveness
Yet I shall, in bitter revenge, unspin this flesh And cut my tattered existence free of all its tarnished innocence.2015, R J Zargle, The Tragedy Of Life's Cruel Wisdom, page 7. From the entry unspin
This loss of trust probably extends to welfare agencies tarnished by paternalism, patriarchalism and association with the Stolen Generation.2006, Gary Bouma, Australian Soul: Religion and Spirituality in the 21st Century, page 116. From the entry Stolen Generation
The wealthy guy, who dropped a “C” note, or the tattered old dame who parted with her last tarnished penny.1949, The Atlantian, volume 8, Atlanta: United States Penitentiary, page 41. From the entry drop
A few from the early years still take part but some of the first dookers believe that it has been tarnished by commercialism.2020 January 6, George Mair, “Original loony dookers disgusted by £12 ticket”, in The Times, London: News UK, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from…. From the entry dooker
The Republican brand will be tarnished even more as mainstream media outlets and late-night comedians gleefully broadcast Moore’s asininity to the broader public.2017 September 29, Jonah Goldberg, "Roy Moore: Gladiator", National Review. From the entry kayfabe
Some Co Donegal gardaí tarnished after-hours drinking prosecutions against a Raphoe publican by planting a found-on in the pub, the Morris Tribunal heard today.2005 July 27, “Morris: Gardaí 'tarnished pub prosecution by planting witness'”, in Irish Examiner. From the entry found-on
Remarkably, higher education's allure has persisted despite recent efforts to tarnish it by academic management and mass media orchestration of an anticollege crusade.1983, Barbara Ann Scott, Crisis Management in American Higher Education. From the entry anticollege
It never becomes wearisome or tarnished.1920, John Collings Squire, “Initials”, in Life and Letters: Essays, Hodder & Stoughton, pages 233–235. From the entry john
“The Knight of Burgavenny groweth old and wrinklesome, he botched his hymn most woefully, his armour is dull and tarnished, and his arm stiff with age.2013 (original 1888), Arthur Machen, Delphi Collected Works of Arthur Machen: The Chronicle of Clemendy. From the entry wrinklesome
She lifted her night-dress over her head and for a moment caught a glimpse of her nakedness in the tarnished looking-glass—plumply rounded thighs and knees, the dimple in her stomach.1986, William Trevor, “Kathleen's Field”, in The Collected Stories, New York: Viking, published 1992, page 1254. From the entry plumply

Meaning of tarnish

noun Oxidation or discoloration, especially of a decorative metal exposed to air.
verb To oxidize or discolor due to oxidation.
verb To compromise, damage, soil, or sully.

Full definition of tarnish

Questions about tarnish in a sentence

How do you use tarnish in a sentence?: Tarnish is used as a noun and verb. For example: “Careful storage of silver will prevent it from tarnishing.”
What is a short sentence with tarnish?: “It never becomes wearisome or tarnished.”
What does tarnish mean?: Tarnish means oxidation or discoloration, especially of a decorative metal exposed to air.

Adapted from Wiktionary: tarnish (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use tarnish in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/tarnish. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.