Etymology
Origin of blackness
A Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at black, -ness
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.
But she never shirks from the hard facts of the Du Bois history, or that of blackness in this country.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026
"What struck me wasn't necessarily just Earth, it was all the blackness around it. Earth was just this lifeboat hanging undisturbingly in the universe," said Koch.
From Barron's • Apr. 11, 2026
“You turn off the lights and they just tumble into the blackness of space,” he told me.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2025
This white haziness in their lungs, where there should only be the empty blackness of air, is commonly the mark of a tuberculosis infection.
From Salon • Dec. 16, 2024
He made a great leap, the force of the wind making Pinmei swallow her scream, and they all plunged into the blackness of the water.
From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin
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.
