blacken
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
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to make or become black or dirty
-
(tr) to defame; slander (esp in the phrase blacken someone's name )
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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blackensimple
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blackenssimple
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have blackenedperfect
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has blackenedperfect
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am blackeningprogressive
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are blackeningprogressive
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is blackeningprogressive
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have been blackeningperfect progressive
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has been blackeningperfect progressive
Past
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blackenedsimple
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had blackenedperfect
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was blackeningprogressive
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were blackeningprogressive
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had been blackeningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of blacken
Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at black, -en 1
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.
See Examples For:
The herb has been used for more than 1,000 years and has traditionally been associated with "blacken hair and nourish essence."
From Science Daily ● Jun. 7, 2026
These incidents may temporarily blacken the eyes of the NBA and Major League Baseball but sports gambling is here to stay.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
You’re not looking to fully blacken every kernel, just enough scorch to bring out that toasty, nutty edge.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2025
The ban, combined with an existing prohibition on fireworks in unincorporated areas, is meant to discourage would-be pyromaniacs from accidentally laying waste to their neighbors’ houses or setting off wildfires that blacken hundreds of acres.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 3, 2023
If she has no wool for the darning and the stockings are dark we can blacken our ankles with shoe polish for the respectability that’s in it.
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
When the ice blackens it's ability to reflect the sun diminishes and this accelerates the melting of the ice.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 4, 2024
"The extent of the destruction blackens our hearts, I apologise for the losses," Mitsotakis said in a televised address, promising his government would stand by all those hurt by the blazes.
From Reuters ● Aug. 9, 2021
A plume of smoke rises up above the streetlamps and blackens the sky.
From The New Yorker ● Jul. 26, 2019
It’s paradise until the first tropical storm blackens the sky and drenches the landscape.
From New York Times ● Mar. 19, 2015
The space in front of me blackens, then clears.
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
Images from inside the bar after the fire was put out showed blackened tables and stools covered in debris, with bottles still left out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
They were there when the devastating Santa Barbara oil spill blackened beaches, turned the shoreline into a wildlife graveyard, and galvanized grassroots defense of the coast.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
Unverified social media videos showed plumes of smoke rising over Ryazan -- a city of around 500,000 -- and a high-rise apartment block with several blackened floors.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
To add to the drama, a warm Madrid afternoon suddenly turned to blackened skies and a deluge to set a spectacular stage for this meeting of European heavyweights.
From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2026
“Good-bye, dear Joe!—No, don’t wipe it off—for God’s sake, give me your blackened hand!—I shall be down soon and often.”
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
The mood among many Labour MPs is darkening, even blackening.
From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2026
Algae lying dormant on the ice starts blooming in spring blackening large areas of the ice.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 4, 2024
California’s largest wildfire so far this year was significantly surrounded Monday after blackening a swath of hilly grasslands between San Francisco Bay and the Central Valley.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 3, 2024
The midday gray blackening, then brightening, on account of a remote and veiled disk of sun and moon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 6, 2024
One day she took a can of stove blackening and the brush and closed herself in the bedroom where she copiously blackened her left breast with the stove polish.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
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.
