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.
"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
Seeing our planet surrounded by the blackness of space "truly emphasised how alike we are, how the same thing keeps every single person on planet Earth alive," Koch said from space.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2026
“This was a period in English culture before blackness acquired its fatal association with slavery,” he writes, identifying a “certain strain of indifference to color” in the thinking of the time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025
She continued up Lake Avenue, then suddenly plunged into blackness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2025
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.
