soiled 1 of 2

adjective

as in stained
not clean a soiled carpet in need of a good shampooing

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

soiled

2 of 2

verb

past tense of soil
as in dirtied
to make dirty oil and grease soiled the mechanic's shirt

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of soiled
Adjective
The mop head was stored directly inside the mop bucket, soiled and wet, and not in use. — Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado july 24, Sacbee.com, 24 July 2026 Let the cleaner sit for 15 minutes and blot the excess, or cover it with a damp cloth and leave it for up to 24 hours for heavily soiled or old, set-in spots. — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 26 June 2026 Quick wash is best for lightly worn clothes, not heavily soiled or stained items. — Marisa Suzanne Martin, The Spruce, 29 May 2026 Students who cannot afford menstrual products are often forced to rely on toilet paper, remain in soiled clothing, leave school early, or miss school altogether. — Gale Brewer, New York Daily News, 28 May 2026 Twenty-five live roaches partied on a soiled cloth behind the reach-in cooler across from the stove. — David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 24 Apr. 2026 Let the paste sit for 10 to 20 minutes, leaving it on longer for heavily greased or soiled areas. — Louise Parks, Martha Stewart, 16 Jan. 2026 Bonner’s story is what is right about sports, which seem to become more soiled and corrupt by the minute. — Troy Renck, Denver Post, 8 Jan. 2026 Towels—including bath towels, hand towels, kitchen towels, and washcloths—are often more soiled than clothes. — Jolie Kerr, Better Homes & Gardens, 22 Dec. 2025
Verb
Heavily soiled laundry like muddy workwear can also benefit from warmer water. — Ryan Brennan, Charlotte Observer, 28 Sep. 2026 Three boxes of fries were found on the floor in the walk-in cooler, soiled with a mixture of water and raw chicken juice. — Sacbee.com, 25 Sep. 2026 Seventh Generation, for example, recommends half a sheet for small or medium loads, one for large loads and two for extra-large or heavily soiled loads. — Ryan Brennan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Sep. 2026 Australian Hyrox star Joanna Wietrzyk has retroactively forfeited a Beijing race win after competing while visibly soiled. — Chuck Schilken, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2026 Roma took one last lights-and-sirens ride with Keith that day, clutching his son’s red helmet, now soiled by debris. — Danya Gainor, CNN Money, 11 Sep. 2026 Well-loved and used items that are broken, damaged beyond repair, unsafe, or heavily stained or soiled should be thrown out. — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 29 Aug. 2026 Lamb checked out of the room the next day, and a housekeeper found three large trash bags filled with bloody towels and linens that were also soiled with human waste, according to the report. — David Goodhue august 21, Miami Herald, 21 Aug. 2026 The leggings were still wet, heavily soiled, and badly deteriorated, LaHendro testified, making the edge detail too unreliable for comparison. — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 24 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for soiled
  1. stained
  2. dirtied
  3. filthy
  4. blackened
  5. dusty
  6. dirty
  7. muddy
Adjective
  • Set your iron to its lowest setting—no steam—and place the stained area between two paper towels or lint-free cloths.
    — Alexandra Emanuelli, Southern Living, 26 Sep. 2026
  • Pushing those briars aside revealed a single splinter of stained glass, bright as a ruby and warm as blood.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of stained
Verb
  • When stormwater dirtied by road runoff, failing septic tanks and fertilizer sullied crystal-clear rivers and lakes, and nobody cared.
    — Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 Jan. 2026
  • Garments can be dirtied again by the elements if air-dried outside.
    — Mary Cornetta, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Dec. 2025
Definition of dirtied
Adjective
  • Some orphans, their faces filthy, walked the stands hawking candy.
    — Dexter Filkins, New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Myriad violations, from food that should’ve been trashed weeks earlier to filthy equipment, befouled the state inspection of a West Miami-Dade supermarket this week.
    — David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of filthy
Verb
  • Footage shot later at daybreak showed the house gutted, charred and blackened from the inside out.
    — Zeena Saifi, CNN Money, 29 Sep. 2026
  • On Tuesday, a silver cross on a long chain hung from the pine tree’s bark, which was peeling and blackened from the blaze.
    — Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of blackened
Adjective
  • The production is a rattling junk drawer of circuit-bent thrift-store keyboards, dusty drum machines, and unintuitive loops, and KTO combines them into head-scratching, shouldn’t-work grooves.
    — Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Coming up from the intertidal, out of the dusty salt wind with his latest find under one arm, Tennent met a woman on her way down.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of dusty
Adjective
  • Walls around the three-sinks are dirty in the ware-washing area.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Postwar Hiroshima was a popular setting for these movie gangsters, who fought dirty, had no use for the old ceremonies, and wore flashy suits and aviator shades.
    — Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of dirty
Adjective
  • The committee isn’t fully aware of the muddy bog in which Taverner is currently sinking, but Lamb is starting to understand the shape of it.
    — Scott Tobias, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2026
  • But the terrain is treacherous with muddy roads and slippery rocks.
    — Paula Wethington, CBS News, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of muddy

Browse Nearby Words

soilage
soiled
soiling
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Soiled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/soiled. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All