blackened 1 of 2

adjective

ˈbla-kənd How to pronounce blackened (audio)
Definition of blackenednext
as in stained
not clean the church's blackened ceiling is the result of centuries of candle smoke

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

blackened

2 of 2

verb

past tense of blacken
1
as in dirtied
to make dirty blackened the towels with their dirty hands

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in smeared
to make untrue and harmful statements about the politician maliciously blackened his opponent's reputation

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in faded
to grow dark the auditorium blackened suddenly, and a spotlighted performer appeared alone on stage

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 blackened
Adjective
The land, unfenced, abuts a bald blackened hillside that must be public land. — Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2025
Verb
Corbin uses cabbage as an anchor in his new and expanding Rolodex of flavors, thrusting it into the fire until the outer layers are blackened and frizzled. — Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026 Timber Fire Monterey County’s Timber Fire burning near Big Sur has blackened nearly 2,500 acres since its start Monday afternoon and is 5% contained. — Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 11 Aug. 2026 The old silver and gold shops, their facades blackened by time, were gone. — Lina Sergie Attar, Time, 6 Aug. 2026 It was blackened, charred, the conductor that had drawn the single precise punch of lightning. — Brian Truitt, USA Today, 27 July 2026 Large sections of the ceiling were destroyed, blackened and charred, while the floor and tables below, some still with beer bottles on them, were blanketed in ash and debris. — ABC News, 13 July 2026 Pictures shared on social media after the fire was extinguished showed chairs and tables inside the pub completely charred and blackened, with parts of the ceiling peeling off. — Charlotte Phillipp, PEOPLE, 12 July 2026 In late fall, after frost has blackened the plants, very carefully dig up the tubers. — Tim Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 11 July 2026 The kernels should develop dark golden spots without becoming overly blackened. — Staff, FOXNews.com, 3 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for blackened
  1. stained
  2. dirtied
  3. smeared
  4. darkened
  5. filthy
  6. disgraced
  7. obscured
  8. dusty
Adjective
  • How To Deep Clean Stained Wood Baseboards For stained wood baseboards, Matthews advises dusting using a dry microfiber cloth and Murphy’s Oil or a wood cleaning oil (remove excessive dirt and crumbs with a vacuum cleaner first).
    — Daley Quinn, Southern Living, 19 Aug. 2026
  • The stained glass above the front door had fallen into the street, held up only by a single cord.
    — Eleanor Nash, Kansas City Star, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of stained
Verb
  • When stormwater dirtied by road runoff, failing septic tanks and fertilizer sullied crystal-clear rivers and lakes, and nobody cared.
    — Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 Jan. 2026
  • Garments can be dirtied again by the elements if air-dried outside.
    — Mary Cornetta, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Dec. 2025
Definition of dirtied
Verb
  • Camille can still picture Burke standing over her, fake blood smeared across her dress.
    — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 5 Aug. 2026
  • There’s rarely anything as straightforward as a kick drum, a hi-hat, or even a bassline here; instead, everything is smeared, all origins occulted in a thicket of echoes and reflections.
    — Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of smeared
Verb
  • Add tomato paste; cook, stirring often, until darkened in color, 2 to 4 minutes.
    — Erin Merhar, Southern Living, 2 Sep. 2026
  • During a partial lunar eclipse that peaked just after midnight on Friday, Earth’s shadow darkened parts of the moon’s visible surface.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of darkened
Adjective
  • People were filthy in so many ways, so Mike really wrote that in.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 20 Aug. 2026
  • While sinks can become filthy from soap splatters and dirty hands, toilets need cleaning for very different reasons.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of filthy
Verb
  • Eugenie, who is twelfth in line to the British throne, is the second daughter of King Charles III’s disgraced younger brother, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
    — Jack Guy, CNN Money, 18 Aug. 2026
  • The pair’s announcement comes shortly after RadarOnline reported that Eugenie’s father, disgraced former Prince Andrew, will not meet Adelaide in person.
    — Allison DeGrushe, StyleCaster, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of disgraced
Verb
  • Many of her photographs were attributed to Capa, which obscured her contribution once Friedmann adopted the name for himself alone.
    — Leo Barraclough, Variety, 2 Sep. 2026
  • In the years since Shakur's murder, what exactly happened in that hail of bullets -- and who pulled the trigger -- was obscured by a lack of physical evidence, feuding cops and the gangland code of silence.
    — Sasha Pezenik, ABC News, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of obscured
Adjective
  • One Baguette is covered in a kaleidoscopic geometric pattern of colorful beads; another resembles a tiny textile artwork in dusty pink, green, and turquoise.
    — Lilah Ramzi, Vogue, 3 Sep. 2026
  • One rises, then another, then seemingly all of them—great striped bulbs of crimson, lemon yellow, and turquoise drifting between the fairy chimneys as the first sunlight catches the dusty pink folds of the landscape.
    — Scott Campbell, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of dusty

Browse Nearby Words

blacken
blackened
blackening
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Blackened.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/blackened. Accessed 6 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of inexorable

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

A List of Most Commonly Confused Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 4
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
anagrams on a chalk board
Word Builder Quiz Vol. 2 Pick the letter that when added to a word will ma...
See All