Etymology
Origin of blackness
A Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at black, -ness
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Then, he satirizes conservatives’ discomfort with his Blackness by sitting silently as Martin Short, playing a nervous young Republican delivering a hackneyed diatribe, shudders in his presence before scampering offstage to fall apart.
From Salon • Feb. 22, 2026
RaMell proposed to set about reorganizing and juxtaposing symbols of Blackness and Black life in the hope of creating a visceral interaction between the viewer and the lives unfurling onscreen.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 17, 2024
I’ve been able to claim my queerness, my Blackness, even just shaving my hair and having my face being so shown.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 19, 2024
And now I’m going to go listen to Sounds of Blackness.
From Salon • Oct. 28, 2024
Blackness crawled in from the edges of my vision.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
![]()
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.