blacken

verb

black·​en ˈbla-kən 

blackened; blackening

ˈblak-niŋ,

ˈbla-kə- 

intransitive verb

: to become dark or black

the sky blackens

transitive verb

1

: to make black

2

: defame, sully

blackened her reputation

blackener

ˈblak-nər

ˈbla-kə- 

noun

Synonyms

• befoul
• begrime
• bemire
• besmirch
• daub
• dirty
• distain [archaic]
• foul
• gaum [dialect]
• grime
• mire
• muck
• muddy
• smirch
• smudge
• soil
• stain
• sully

Examples of blacken in a Sentence

Fire had blackened the field.

The sky blackened as the storm approached.

Their false accusations failed to blacken my reputation.

a presidency blackened by scandal

Recent Examples on the Web

Flames were not visible from the camera, but swathes of blackened, scorched land were shown. —Katie Langford, The Denver Post, 12 Sep. 2024

People sit around on the sand, with an area of the ground appearing blackened. —Catherine Nicholls, CNN, 3 Aug. 2024

The fire burned out of control for several hours, blackening about 500 acres. —Melody Petersen, Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2024

Her natural hair had been dyed with henna and juniper, while the long wig had been treated with quartz, magnetite, and albite crystals to stiffen the braids and blacken the color. —Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 1 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English blaknen, blakenen, from blak black entry 1 + -n, -en -en entry 2

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Kids Definition

blacken

verb

black·​en ˈblak-ən 

blackened; blackening ˈblak-(ə-)niŋ 

1

: to make or become dark or black

2

: to hurt the reputation of

blackener

-(ə-)nər 

noun