black-a-vised

American  

[blak-uh-vahyst, -vahyzd] / ˈblæk əˌvaɪst, -ˌvaɪzd /

Also black-a-viced

adjective

1. having a dark complexion.

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Etymology

Origin of black-a-vised

1750–60; Scots blackaviced, equivalent to black a vice (one) black of face ( black + a ³ + obsolete vice < Middle French vis; visage ) + -ed ³

Example Sentences

Tall, lean, black-a-vised, muscular, Robert Graves looks younger than his 38 years.

From Time Magazine Archive

"At your service, Major," cried the Captain, a dashing, black-a-vised personage, with large gold rings in his ears, a plume a yard long in his castor, and a general Drawcansir air.

From Prisoners of Hope A Tale of Colonial Virginia by Johnston, Mary

There came to it a tall, black-a-vised woman, who, the moment she saw the girl, cried out— 'Oh, Mary Ann, are you took bad again?'

From The Beautiful Wretch; The Pupil of Aurelius; and The Four Macnicols by Black, William

There was a carrier’s cart ready to start, and a keen, thin, impatient, black-a-vised little man, his hand at his gray horse’s head looking about angrily for something.

From Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 6 by Sylvester, Charles Herbert

The French skipper too was at the wheel: a dapper little personage, black-a-vised, with fierce moustachios and eye-tufts.

From The Gentleman A Romance of the Sea by Ollivant, Alfred