sujar

Sujar is a Spanish verb that means to dirty, stain, or smear a surface, making it dirty or unclean. It can also be used metaphorically to tarnish someone’s reputation or integrity. The action is transitive, typically requiring a direct object: “Él sujó la camisa con aceite” (he dirtied the shirt with oil).

Usage and nuance: Sujar covers both physical dirt and figurative contamination. It appears in everyday speech across Spain and Latin America. In metaphorical use, sujar can describe actions that tarnish names, reputations, or documents, sometimes with a stronger sense of damage than related verbs such as manchar or ensuciar.

Etymology and related forms: The origin of sujar is not precisely documented in general dictionaries. It is related to sucio (dirty) and has cognates in other Romance languages, such as Portuguese sujar. The verb follows typical -ar conjugation patterns in most tenses, with regular endings, and occurs in reflexive forms like sujarse in certain constructions.

Synonyms and distinctions: Common alternatives include manchar (to stain) and ensuciar (to dirty or contaminate). Manchar often emphasizes a visible mark, while ensuciar stresses dirtiness; sujar can carry a broader sense, including both physical and moral or reputational contamination, depending on context.

Examples: Él sujó la camisa con aceite. La noticia manchó su nombre, though this uses a synonym for nuance. For more formal or neutral contexts, prefer manchar or ensuciar, while sujar remains idiomatic for general dirtiness or metaphorical contamination. See also manchar, ensuciar.