blackened

[blak-uh nd]

adjective

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

Related formsun·black·ened, adjective

blacken

[blak-uhn]

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

Related formsblack·en·er, noun

Synonyms for blacken

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for blackened

blot, smudge, tarnish, sully, stain, soil, befoul, shade, deepen, cloud, begrime, ink, ebonize, defile, decry, traduce, knock, slur, blotch, malign

Examples from the Web for blackened

Contemporary Examples of blackened

Blood and blackened remnants are caked on the bathroom floor.
Who Is Behind Gaza's Mass Execution?
Jesse Rosenfeld
August 1, 2014
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
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
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
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

Historical Examples of blackened

The shop was built of rough boards, and the inside was blackened with soot.
In the Midst of Alarms
Robert Barr
My mind misgave me, for Calderon's name is blackened by many curses.
Calderon The Courtier
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
There were the four blackened walls, and a rusted iron ring in one of them.
A Tale of Two Cities
Charles Dickens
The face of the dead man was distorted and blackened by the agony of strangulation.
Henry Dunbar
M. E. Braddon
The Captain's face was blackened, and his clothes were scorched, but his spirit was undaunted.
Cap'n Eri
Joseph Crosby Lincoln

British Dictionary definitions for blackened

blacken

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.