blackened

[ blak-uh nd ]

/ ˈblæk ənd /

adjective

(especially of fish) coated with spices and sautéed quickly over high heat so that the outside chars.

Nearby words

Related formsun·black·ened, adjective

blacken

[ blak-uhn ]

/ ˈblæk ən /

verb (used with object)

to make black; darken.

to speak evil of; defame: to blacken a person's reputation.

verb (used without object)

to grow or become black.

Origin of blacken

Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at black, -en¹

SYNONYMS FOR blacken

2. denigrate, smear, slander, villify, libel, traduce, calumniate.

Related formsblack·en·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for blackened

Blood and blackened remnants are caked on the bathroom floor.
Who Is Behind Gaza's Mass Execution?|Jesse Rosenfeld|August 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Eyebrows Cressida: Imagine eyebrows drawn on a balloon with a blackened cork.
Cressida Bonas vs. Cara Delevingne: A Differentiation Guide to Two Celebrity English Roses|Tom Sykes|June 26, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The rear ramp dropped open, and Lance Cpl. Williams saw a blackened hull spouting flames 30 feet high.
The Mental Health of Our Wounded Warriors: PTSD Isn't the Only Affliction|Justin Green|February 16, 2013|DAILY BEAST
But inside the destroyed entrance, down the blackened hallways, through the blown-out doors, there is a room with a light on.
Inside a Syrian Rebel City: FSA Restores Tentative Order to Al Bab|Erin Banco|August 21, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Which may be why we so want to see his blackened head, pulverized by taxpayer bullets.
Osama bin Laden Died a Fool and Has No Legacy|Dana Vachon|May 6, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Passage after passage was blackened with heavy lines in lead pencil.
Mystery Ranch|Arthur Chapman
And once I saw a dead man lying near a blackened cellar; and a dead hound near him.
The Little Red Foot|Robert W. Chambers
Teeth are knocked out, or filed into prescribed shapes, or blackened.
Folkways|William Graham Sumner
It had left the beautiful little city a mass of blackened, smoking ruins.
The Story of Grenfell of the Labrador|Dillon Wallace
Every design in this article is built up from the seven pieces of blackened cardboard.
Amusements in Mathematics|Henry Ernest Dudeney

British Dictionary definitions for blackened

blacken

/ (ˈblækən) /

verb

to make or become black or dirty

(tr) to defame; slander (esp in the phrase blacken someone's name)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for blackened

blacken

c.1200, "become black or dark;" early 14c., "make black, darken, dye (hair);" see black + -en (1). Figurative sense of "to besmirch" (with dishonor, etc.) is from early 15c. Related: Blackened; blackening.