dusky

American  

[duhs-kee] / ˈdʌs ki /

adjective

duskier, duskiest

1. somewhat dark; having little light; dim; shadowy.

2. Older Use: Chiefly Literary. having dark skin.

3. of a dark color.

4. gloomy; sad.

---

dusky British  

/ ˈdʌskɪ /

adjective

1. dark in colour; swarthy or dark-skinned

2. dim

---

Other Word Forms

• duskiness
  noun
• duskily
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of dusky

First recorded in 1550–60; dusk ² + -y ¹

Explanation

Something that's dusky is dark or poorly lit, like the dusky walk home from your friend's house at twilight. You can also use this adjective to describe a darker shade of a particular color, like your grandpa's favorite dusky pink roses or the dusky blue of the sky over the ocean just before a storm. Dusky and dusk, or the time just after the sun sets in the evening, come from the Middle English dosc, "obscure, tending to darkness, or shadowy."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dusky duskier duskiest

The dusky shark, which can be found in the Long Island Sound, has been recently documented eating seals near Nantucket.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026

What I was really craving, I realized, was the dusky, spiced intensity of another fall icon: apple butter.

From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2025

Armed with shovels and heavy construction equipment, crews quickly collected fire debris from rugged cliffsides, dusky shorelines and sprawling burnt-out neighborhoods.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2025

Her legs are rosy orange and dusky purple, punctuated by small bumps.

From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2025

It was dusky outside, but people were out.

From "The Stars Beneath Our Feet" by David Barclay Moore

They’re a scene-stealing duo whose comic relief goes a long way toward softening some of the movie’s harsher angles and brightening some of its duskier corners.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 11, 2019

Soon the gold was shrinking and getting duskier in sea and sky, and there was no living thing in sight, no sound but the lulling monotony of the lapping waves.

From Romola by Eliot, George

The panelled wainscot is covered with dingy paint and acquires a duskier hue from the deep shadow into which the Province House is thrown by the brick block that shuts it in from Washington street.

From Twice Told Tales by Hawthorne, Nathaniel

Mrs. Dallow made no response to this, and he pursued his quest, successful only when he reached a duskier corner of the room, to which the hat had been relegated by his cousin's maid.

From The Tragic Muse by James, Henry

A moving shadow duskier than the shadows themselves came through the door and hovered over Osterbridge Hawsey.

From Mr. Wicker's Window by Ward, Lynd

The people around Michèle hide their duskiest anxieties deep inside, while all her darkness shimmers on the surface.

From Time ● Nov. 29, 2

Stockport is renowned throughout the entire district as one of the duskiest, smokiest holes, and looks, indeed, especially when viewed from the viaduct, excessively repellent. 

From The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844 with a Preface written in 1892 by Kelley, Florence

Flowers: white water-lilies, camellias, or the darkest, duskiest, damask roses, and none of these in such profusion as to appear conspicuous.-402-

From Social Life or, The Manners and Customs of Polite Society by Cooke, Maud C.

The two of us held close together, and chose the duskiest thickets, crawling belly-wise over the little clear patches and avoiding the crown of the ridge like the plague.

From Salute to Adventurers by Buchan, John

Her the close bewildering greenery Darkens with its duskiest green, - Him each little leaflet welcomes, Flushing with an orient sheen.

From Poems — Volume 1 by Meredith, George

Related Words

• smoky