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blot

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A blemish made by dirt.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

blaht
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈblɑt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A blemish made by dirt

  2. A blemish, spot or stain made by a coloured substance.

  3. by extension

    A stain on someone's reputation or character; a disgrace.

verb

  1. transitive

    To stain with infamy; to disgrace.

  2. transitive

    To obliterate, as writing with ink; to cancel; to efface; generally with out.

  3. transitive

    To spot, stain, or bespatter, as with ink.

  4. transitive

    To impair; to damage; to mar; to soil.

  5. intransitive

    To soak up or absorb liquid.

  6. transitive

    To obscure; to eclipse; to shadow.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A blemish made by dirt

Used this way, blot is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • smear , a specialist term, precise but narrower

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

dot blotblot analysisblot hybridizationink blotblot testblot drygreat blotfoul blot

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • blotternounInflected form

    Absorbent paper used to dry ink.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • blot outverbCompound term

    Make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or concealing.

  • blotting papernounCompound term

    Absorbent paper used to dry ink.

  • police blotternounCompound term

    The daily written record of events (as arrests) in a police station.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: to stain with infamy

stain

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.