Blackening

noun, verb

noun, verb ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act or process of turning (becoming) black in colour. uncountable
  2. 2
    changing to a darker color wordnet
  3. 3
    The result or an instance of such an act or process; a black stain or mark. countable
  4. 4
    Any of various (dark-colored) surface treatments for metal substrates, to inhibit corrosion. countable, uncountable
  5. 5
    The act of defaming or sullying. countable, uncountable

    "blackenings of my reputation"

Verb
  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of blacken form-of, gerund, participle, present

Synonyms

All synonyms
abuseabusiveassaultattackberatingblack oxide

Example

More examples

"They stood silent, not looking at each other, but looking at the evergreens which were being tossed, and were showing the pale underside of their leaves against the blackening sky."

Etymology

From blacken + -ing.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.