From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Tarnish \Tar"nish\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Tarnished}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Tarnishing}.] [F. ternir, fr. OHG. tarnen to darken, to conceal, hide; akin to OS. dernian to hide, AS. dernan, dyrnan, OHG. tarni hidden, OS. derni, AS. derne, dyrne. Cf. {Dern}, adjective, and see {-ish}.] To soil, or change the appearance of, especially by an alternation induced by the air, or by dust, or the like; to diminish, dull, or destroy the luster of; to sully; as, to tarnish a metal; to tarnish gilding; to tarnish the purity of color. ''Tarnished lace.'' --Fuller. Used also figuratively; as, to tarnish one's honor.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
adjective
1: especially of reputation; "the senator's seriously damaged reputation"; "a flyblown reputation"; "a tarnished reputation"; "inherited a spotted name" [syn: {besmirched}, {damaged}, {flyblown}, {spotted}, {stained}, {sullied}, {tainted}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
26 Moby Thesaurus words for "tarnished": bedraggled, befouled, besmirched, blackened, darkened, defiled, dirtied, discolored, drabbled, draggled, fouled, foxed, foxy, inky, murky, smirched, smoky, smudged, soiled, spotted, stained, stigmatic, stigmatiferous, stigmatized, sullied, tainted
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