burnish
verb

- to make (metal) bright by polishing

- if you burnish something such as your public image, you take action to improve it and make it more attractive

The Cambridge Dictionary

—
WORD ORIGIN

The verb burnish (early 14th century), meaning “to polish by friction" is from Old French burniss- burnir meaning "to shine, gleam, sparkle”, from a Frankish or some other Germanic source meaning "bright; brown". The connection to "brown" might be explained if the original objects in mind were wooden ones.

The meaning "cause to glow, clean (something) until it shines" is from the late 14th century.

—
GLADSTONE Vs DISRAELI

Who burnished their image better?

Admired for her beauty, Jennie Jerome (Winston Churchill’s mother) glided through the loftiest social circles in Great Britain. Once, on consecutive nights, Ms. Jerome dined with England’s premier politicians: Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli and his chief rival, William Gladstone. When questioned about her impressions of the two men, Ms. Jerome made the following observation:

“When I left the dining room after sitting next to Gladstone, I thought he was the cleverest man in England. But when I sat next to Disraeli I left feeling that I was the cleverest woman.”

—
SYNONYMS

ameliorate, beautify, better, brighten, brush up, BURNISH, buff, clean (up), do up, elevate, enrich, finish, furbish, glaze, gleam, gloss, go over, grind, hone, illuminate, improve, light up, lustre, oil, make glossy, perfect, polish (up), put finishing touches on, refine, renovate, retouch, revamp, rub (up), sand, scour, scrub, shape up, sharpen, shine, slick up, smooth(en), smooth out, spruce (up), strengthen, whet, work over (up)

—
SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation, say something like:

“She gave a presentation at the company meeting that really helped to BURNISH her image."

—
HERZLICHEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations.

Every month, I spend evening and weekend hours with my family researching and writing your daily OWAD. It remains FREE, AD-free, and ALIVE thanks to voluntary donations from appreciative readers.

If you aren’t already, please also consider supporting us - even the equivalent of a single cup of coffee a month will help us cover mailing, site hosting, and maintenance costs. Just head over to our DonorBox page:

https://donorbox.org/please-become-a-friend-of-owad-5-3

or bank transfer to Paul Smith
IBAN: DE75 7316 0000 0002 5477 40
stating your first name and last name and “OWAD donation” as the ‘Verwendungszweck’

Thank you,

Paul