verb
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to make or become black or dirty
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(tr) to defame; slander (esp in the phrase blacken someone's name )
Other Word Forms
- blackener noun
Etymology
Origin of blacken
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.
A new scientific review suggests that Polygonum multiflorum, a root used in traditional Chinese medicine for more than a thousand years to "blacken hair and nourish essence," could be a promising alternative for managing AGA.
From Science Daily • Feb. 9, 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
But as the ghostly figure draws nearer, its skin rots and its eyes blacken.
From New York Times • Mar. 31, 2023
Sarit and Itamar opted to leave the onion on the grill to blacken thoroughly — but only on the surface.
From Salon • Dec. 2, 2021
In case my friends’ grammar and punctuation weren’t upsetting enough, the fact that nobody thought there might be a problem with ME was enough to blacken my mood pretty thoroughly.
From "Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie" by Jordan Sonnenblick
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.
