unsullied

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ʌnˈsʌlid/ UK /ʌnˈsʌlid/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
not spoiled, tainted, or made impure; pristine

Her reputation remained unsullied despite the scandal swirling around her colleagues.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · not spoiled, tainted, or... pristine unspoiled untainted pure spotless immaculate unblemished

Opposites

sulliedtaintedstainedblemished

Word family

Related forms sullysullied

Etymology

From un- ('not') + sullied, from sully, from Old French souiller ('to soil, stain'), perhaps from Latin suculus ('little pig') or related to soil.

un- Old English souiller Middle French

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

# unsullied

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** ʌnˈsʌlid
**IPA (UK):** ʌnˈsʌlid

## Meanings
1. not spoiled, tainted, or made impure; pristine

## Examples
- Her reputation remained unsullied despite the scandal swirling around her colleagues.

## Synonyms
- pristine
- unspoiled
- untainted
- pure
- spotless
- immaculate
- unblemished

## Antonyms
- sullied
- tainted
- stained
- blemished

## Related Forms
- sully
- sullied

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: un-
- Root: souiller

## Etymology
From un- ('not') + sullied, from sully, from Old French souiller ('to soil, stain'), perhaps from Latin suculus ('little pig') or related to soil.

## AI Etymology
Unsullied comes from un- ('not') + sullied, from sully, from Old French souiller ('to soil, stain'), perhaps from Latin suculus ('little pig') or related to soil. In current use it is an adjective meaning "not spoiled, tainted, or made impure; pristine". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The prefix un- is negative or privative, marking the absence, denial, or opposite of the base idea. The surface form is compositional: its joined elements remain visible in the modern word. The uncertainty belongs to the etymology itself and should be kept: the older ancestry is not presented as more secure than it is. The historical chain includes Old English un- and Old French souiller. Related English forms include sully and sullied. The safest dictionary treatment is to keep the secure forms and the uncertainty together, since the doubtful step is part of the word's history rather than a gap to fill by guesswork.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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