How to Use smudge in a Sentence

smudge

1 of 2 verb
  • His face was smudged with grease.
  • Don't smudge the picture with your dirty hands!
  • And, for the love of god, the ink better not bleed or smudge until the end of the day.
    Chloe Metzger, Marie Claire, 25 May 2018
  • Once dry, though, the polish held its own and didn’t smudge.
    Alyssa Brascia, Peoplemag, 16 Mar. 2023
  • The creamy black glides on with ease and doesn't smudge, feather, or fade.
    Allure Editors, Allure, 13 Sep. 2022
  • Once your stamps are ready, just smudge some blobs of paint on a plate and dip away!
    Heather Arndt Anderson, Sunset Magazine, 12 Feb. 2020
  • Drink from the same place on the glass every time so the entire rim isn’t smudged.
    Sarah Solomon, Town & Country, 28 July 2017
  • And still Robinson sat, a blank look on a face smudged with eye black.
    Colleen Kane, chicagotribune.com, 3 Nov. 2019
  • Paint a picture then slash it, or smudge it or shoot it with a gun.
    Washington Post, 7 July 2021
  • The group has yet to achieve a distinctive sound, and some of the passage work is smudged.
    David Patrick Stearns, Philly.com, 14 Sep. 2017
  • Remove skewers and smudge over the holes with your finger to smooth the tops.
    Lisa Ruland, Bon Appétit, 12 Feb. 2021
  • Even on a summer day, the stuff didn't smudge or give me raccoon eyes.
    Karina Hoshikawa, refinery29.com, 18 June 2021
  • But Brooks, with eye black smudged on his cheeks, lingered.
    Nicole Yang, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Jan. 2020
  • Our tablecloth was smudged; so were the murals of old Aleppo on the walls.
    Vivian Yee, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2019
  • Loved by La' Pearl, this shouldn’t smudge, transfer, or feel heavy..
    Kiana Murden, Vogue, 5 Apr. 2022
  • The park was alive with sunlight and flowers; the worst of the wildfires were over but smoke still smudged the horizon.
    Longreads, 18 Sep. 2019
  • The ink has faded to brown over the years; the back of the page is smudged perhaps by food or fingertips.
    Mary Carole McCauley, baltimoresun.com, 5 June 2018
  • Apply and let dry for a clean line, or apply and smudge (while still wet) for a messier look.
    Sophie Wirt, Allure, 31 Aug. 2017
  • The Lash Paradise has a full lash fringe that has a feathery soft wavy brush that doesn’t flake or smudge.
    Daisy Maldonado, SELF, 13 Sep. 2022
  • Spices smudge the surface and resonate deep into the meat of both Boswell’s jerk chicken and pork.
    Brett Anderson, NOLA.com, 30 Jan. 2018
  • Wearing bright red lipstick that didn’t smudge all over a face mask.
    Washington Post, 2 Apr. 2020
  • The blue-gray Pacific was clear far out to where a fogbank smudged the horizon.
    John Dos Passos, Harper's magazine, 2 Mar. 2020
  • There were gas stations every few blocks, and the sky was smudged with brown exhaust.
    Christine Smallwood, Harper's Magazine, 30 Mar. 2020
  • Just pop some clear gloss on your eyelids, apply a pink lippie and then smudge the gloss on your lips.
    Seventeen Editors, Seventeen, 19 Jan. 2023
  • Draw a hashtag on the outer corner of your eyelid and smudging it out with the sponge.
    Seventeen.com Editors, Seventeen, 26 Jan. 2018
  • To create a grungy smokey eye, draw it on your lash line — top and bottom — and then use your finger to smudge it.
    Jessica Ourisman, Allure, 22 Aug. 2022
  • In one photo, Bronze looks shocked as his mom snaps his photo, cake smudged across his cheeks.
    Hannah Sacks, Peoplemag, 28 Nov. 2023
  • In one photo, Bronze looked shocked as his mom snapped his photo, cake smudged across his cheeks.
    Hannah Sacks, Peoplemag, 17 Jan. 2024
  • Thanks to the creamy formula, the brush can be used to smudge the product to create a smokey effect or clean up any mishaps.
    Nerisha Penrose, ELLE, 27 July 2022
  • Less than 24 hours after the Polarstern settled in, the ship's emissions were smudging the ice.
    Shannon Hall, Science | AAAS, 13 Nov. 2019
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smudge

2 of 2 noun
  • His hand left a grimy smudge on the wall.
  • On the shed was what appeared to be a palm-sized smudge of blood.
    Angie Dimichele, sun-sentinel.com, 4 Nov. 2021
  • The mark on her cheek is blurry and soft, like a smudge of dirt.
    Caroline Mimbs Nyce, The Atlantic, 7 Feb. 2023
  • The five shades are long-wearing, smudge-free and last for up to 12 hours.
    Samantha Olson, Seventeen, 17 May 2021
  • How chapped would his lips have to be to take a smudge of it from her mouthy tube?
    Sarah Braunstei, The New Yorker, 2 Aug. 2021
  • Bring along a notebook and smudge-proof pen to jot down ideas along the way.
    Kaitlyn McInnis, Condé Nast Traveler, 18 July 2022
  • Watch the video for the whole smudge-technique on display.
    Anna Tingley, Variety, 26 Oct. 2021
  • Anyone in the Olympic bubble have some sage and a smudge pot?
    Nancy Armour, USA TODAY, 7 Feb. 2022
  • Per the Evening Standard, the smudge was the result of a fan signing gone wrong.
    Hanna Lustig, Glamour, 7 Mar. 2023
  • Some clouds seemed not much more than gray smudges against the season’s haze.
    Martin Weil, Washington Post, 13 Aug. 2023
  • The first startling image is a red paint smudge over black ink.
    Armond White, National Review, 29 Sep. 2023
  • The brand also claims the pencil is smudge-proof and long-wearing.
    Jessica Kasparian, USA TODAY, 13 Mar. 2020
  • But this one, with its XXL-sized brush and non-smudge formula, won the hearts of our judges.
    Abby Gardner, Glamour, 26 Nov. 2019
  • Wearers can expect up to 36 hours of smudge-free wear, too.
    Celia Shatzman, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 May 2022
  • Blocks of buildings that once stood appear now as smudges.
    Rozina Ali, The New Yorker, 7 Nov. 2023
  • This waterproof and smudge-proof gel is infused with hair-like fibers to fill the brow in for a full look.
    Tatjana Freund, ELLE, 8 Dec. 2022
  • Some of the scenic artists made the new construction look old and lived in, placing marks on the front door and smudges on windows.
    Helene Stapinski, New York Times, 15 Nov. 2019
  • There was the tail-spot that Jack saw earlier, a charcoal smudge.
    T. Edward Nickens, Field & Stream, 27 May 2020
  • Then Christine surrenders to the warm grass and is brought up short by a smudge of pink that is and isn’t the dead Vivian.
    Joanna Biggs, Harper's Magazine, 10 Jan. 2024
  • That’s when a Vulcan, dressed a red costume and a giant smile, approached and gave her a hug and a smudge.
    Molly Guthrey, Twin Cities, 27 Jan. 2024
  • The lack of flakes and smudges is down to the absence of oil, which tends to cause the pigment in traditional mascara to run.
    Calin Van Paris, Vogue, 4 Oct. 2023
  • The smudge root, bright blonde ends, and done-but-not done texture makes the entire style look perfectly lived-in.
    Kara Nesvig, Allure, 31 Jan. 2024
  • On top of all that, the brand claims the formula is smudge-proof and water-resistant.
    Bella Cacciatore, Glamour, 8 Oct. 2020
  • The creamy kohl liners, which are transfer-, water-, and smudge-proof, will be available to shop on February 27.
    ELLE, 14 Feb. 2023
  • The initial step is to remove any grim, fingerprints, and smudges from the surface.
    Angela Belt, House Beautiful, 20 Mar. 2023
  • Anybody else notice the black smudge on Justin Turner’s back?
    Dan Shaughnessy, BostonGlobe.com, 16 June 2023
  • From the tallest peak in Hawaii to a high plateau in the Andes, some of the biggest telescopes on Earth will point towards a faint smudge of light over the next few weeks.
    Alexandra Witze, Scientific American, 27 Nov. 2019
  • For now, though, the most distant galaxy in question is just a red smudge in James Webb’s first data.
    Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 3 Aug. 2022
  • The non-streaky, smudge-resistant color lasts all day too.
    Theresa Holland, PEOPLE.com, 6 June 2022
  • After an hour, my cactus resembled a fat green hand, the pot a big blue smudge.
    Brendan Fitzgerald, Longreads, 14 Mar. 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'smudge.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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