blacken

verb

ˈbla-kən How to pronounce blacken (audio)
Definition of blackennext
1
as in to stain
to make dirty blackened the towels with their dirty hands

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2
as in to libel
to make untrue and harmful statements about the politician maliciously blackened his opponent's reputation

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3
as in to darken
to make dark, dim, or indistinct thick smoke from the forest fires blackened the sky for many miles

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4
as in to dusk
to grow dark the auditorium blackened suddenly, and a spotlighted performer appeared alone on stage

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of blacken Season the fish on both sides with 4 teaspoons of the blackening seasoning. — Kate Williams, AJC.com, 21 Sep. 2026 On Tuesday, a silver cross on a long chain hung from the pine tree’s bark, which was peeling and blackened from the blaze. — Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 15 Sep. 2026 The blaze blackened about 25 acres near the Getty Center before firefighters got the upper hand on it. — Tom Tapp, Deadline, 9 Sep. 2026 Venus ascendant, sky blackened with the new moon, and acool breeze soothed you. — Literary Hub, 8 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for blacken
Recent Examples of Synonyms for blacken
  1. stain
  2. libel
  3. darken
  4. dirty
  5. smear
  6. obscure
  7. besmirch
  8. humiliate
Verb
  • Bookshelves are crammed with novels and almanacs, the wood boards of the ceilings stained dark in delicious contrast to the clean white walls and creamy linen furnishings.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026
  • The yellow color from the fenbendazole stained his white goatee.
    — Trisha Thadani Kirsten Potter Tanya Pérez Devin Murphy, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of stain
Verb
  • In 2022, Manhattan Federal Judge Jed Rakoff, who presided over both trials, decided The Times was not liable for defamation while jurors were deliberating, that the error amounted to unfortunate editorializing but not libel.
    — Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 22 Apr. 2025
  • As a new, inexpensive Chevrolet appeared in 1927 and The Dearborn Independent was sued for libeling a number of Jewish businessmen, Ford threw in the towel and apologized.
    — George Pendle, airmail.news, 15 Mar. 2025
Definition of libel
Verb
  • In its latest incarnation, designed by the firm S9, the curtain wall has darkened and the electronic billboards brightened, so that the tower resembles a TV mount, more apparatus than architecture.
    — Justin Davidson, Curbed, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Verity is immobile and catatonic, and Lowen learns that the family’s life is also darkened by a child’s accidental death.
    — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of darken
Verb
  • To even wade into the arguments might dirty your hands, and mind.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Satisfy your lasagna craving without dirtying up a pile of dishes.
    — Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 9 July 2026
Definition of dirty
Verb
  • Following Tuesday’s baseline dust-up after a foul on Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson confronted a fan, leading Cloud to take to Threads and smear both the Indiana Fever organization and the spectator.
    — Alejandro Avila OutKick, FOXNews.com, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Sweat glistened on the white foundation smeared across her face.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of smear
Verb
  • Aggregate data can obscure radically different labor market realities, and monetary policy calibrated only to the aggregate can miss the productive capacity sitting beneath it.
    — Katica Roy, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Racing on Crait kicks up those vibrant red dust clouds, which obscure the view of other racers and can even slow them down.
    — Hayes Madsen, Space.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of obscure
Verb
  • Our nation’s capital is besmirched, on his say-so, with signs and banners bearing his likeness and name.
    — Letters to the Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Troubled by all the people besmirching the occupation, a group of agents formed a national trade group in 1908—the one eventually known as NAR.
    — Michael Waters, The Atlantic, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of besmirch
Verb
  • This caution is surprising in a writer who has elsewhere been fearless about identity and America, attentive to the country’s institutional capacity to humiliate, compromise, and implicate the people who claim it.
    — Zain Khalid, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2026
  • But the Saudis, humiliated by their losses in Yemen, seem likely to lash out.
    — Kareem Fahim, New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of humiliate

Browse Nearby Words

blacked out
blacken
blackened
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Cite this Entry

“Blacken.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/blacken. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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