smudge

5 definitions • 6 examples

a mark with no particular shape that is caused, usually by accident, by rubbing something such as ink or a dirty finger across a surface:

Her hands were covered in dust and she had a black smudge on her nose.

figurative She said we were nearly there, but the island was still no more than a distant smudge on the horizon.

If ink, paint, etc. smudges or if someone smudges it, it becomes dirty or not clear because someone or something has touched it:

She was crying and her mascara had smudged.

a mark left on a surface, usually unintentionally, from having touched something wet or sticky:

Trev wiped a smudge of chocolate from the side of his mouth.

to make a dirty, wet, or sticky mark on a surface:

She was sweaty and her face was smudged with dirt.

If you smudge something that is neat, you make it messy:

She draws a line and then smudges it with her finger.