daubs
/dɔːbz/
VERB
1. Applying or spreading a substance over a surface
To apply a substance to a surface in rough, hurried, or uneven strokes.
1.1. Smearing or coating a surface
Applying paint, mud, plaster, grease, or another substance over a surface, often in thick or uneven patches.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Examples
- The artist daubs thick layers of paint onto the canvas.
- She daubs icing onto the cake to create decorative patterns.
- The mason daubs mortar over the gaps between the stones.
Related Words
- applies
- spreads
- covers
- overlays
- dabs
1.2. Making something dirty or stained
Covering or marking something with dirt, mud, grease, or another substance that makes it unclean or discolored.
Synonyms
- befouls
- begrimes
- bemires
- besmirches
- blackens
- contaminates
- defiles
- dirties
- fouls
- grimes
- muddies
- pollutes
- smirches
- soils
- stains
- sullies
- taints
Antonyms
- cleans
- cleanses
- decontaminates
- purifies
- washes
- scrubs
Examples
- The vandals daubs the walls with dark paint and graffiti.
- The workers daubs their clothes with mud while repairing the old building.
Related Words
- greases
- mucks
- discolors
- smudges
- stains
1.3. Painting or drawing in a crude manner
Creating rough, unskilled, or hastily executed pictures or designs using paint, marks, or simple strokes.
Synonyms
- doodles
- draws
- sketches
- paints
Examples
- The children daubs colorful pictures on sheets of paper.
- The amateur painter daubs rough shapes across the canvas.
Related Words
- depictions
- illustrations
- caricatures
- cartoons
- etchings
- finger paintings
NOUN
2. Crude paintings or rough applications of paint
Roughly applied patches or strokes of paint, or crude and amateurish pictures.
2.1. Rough patches or strokes of paint
Thick, uneven, or loosely applied areas of paint used to create texture or color in an artwork.
Synonyms
- smears
- smudges
- strokes
- patches
Examples
- Bold daubs of red and yellow give the painting its energetic appearance.
Related Words
- watercolors
- paintings
- collages
- finger paintings
2.2. Crude or amateurish drawings
Rough, simple, or unskilled pictures and representations that lack artistic refinement.
Synonyms
- doodles
- sketches
- drawings
- depictions
- illustrations
Examples
- The walls were decorated with childish daubs and colorful sketches.
Related Words
- caricatures
- cartoons
- diagrams
- etchings
- portraits
- silhouettes