Word.ws English Dictionary

tar with the same brush

UK/ˈtaː wɪ‿ðə seɪm ˈbɹʌʃ/US/ˈtaɹ wɪ‿ðə seɪm ˈbɹʌʃ/

tar with the same brush verb: to characterize (someone or something) using the same undesirable attribute, especially unjustly.

Verb

tar with the same brush (third-person singular simple present tars with the same brush, present participle tarring with the same brush, simple past and past participle tarred with the same brush)

  1. (figuratively, transitive) To characterize (someone or something) using the same undesirable attribute, especially unjustly.
    • The C Party have tarred themselves with the same brush as the B Party.
    • The merchants of London, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Birmingham, were tarred, one and all, with the same brush.1837 June 10, “Debates and Proceedings in Parliament. [The Currency.]”, in The Spectator: A Weekly Journal of News, Politics, Literature, and Science, volume X, number 467, London: Joseph Clayton...

Synonyms of tar with the same brush

Forms of tar with the same brush

third-person singular presenttars with the same brush
present participletarring with the same brush
past participletarred with the same brush
pasttarred with the same brush

Origin of tar with the same brush

From tar (“to coat with tar; to besmirch”), in the sense of two or more persons or things being soiled with the same thing.

Words that rhyme with tar with the same brush

9 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about tar with the same brush

What does tar with the same brush mean?
Tar with the same brush means to characterize (someone or something) using the same undesirable attribute, especially unjustly.
What part of speech is tar with the same brush?
Tar with the same brush is a verb.
How do you pronounce tar with the same brush?
Tar with the same brush is pronounced /ˈtaː wɪ‿ðə seɪm ˈbɹʌʃ/ (UK).
What is the past tense of tar with the same brush?
The past tense of tar with the same brush is tarred with the same brush.

Words near tar with the same brush in the dictionary

  1. tar sands
  2. tar spot
  3. TAR syndrome
  4. tar water
  5. tar waters
  6. tar with the same brush
  7. tar with the same stick
  8. tar'd
  9. tar-and-feather
  10. tar-and-feathered
  11. tar-and-feathering

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tar with the same brush (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-tar with the same brush.ogg.

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