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.

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dusky British  

/ ˈdʌskɪ /

adjective

1. dark in colour; swarthy or dark-skinned

2. dim

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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

As they alway do, Dean's band play completely live - no samples, no backing tracks, no programmed beats - perfectly complementing the dusky glow of her voice.

From BBC ● Feb. 27, 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

It was dusky inside the store after the outdoor brightness.

From "The Egypt Game" by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

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

Toward midnight the gorgeous tints changed to a thin wedge of perfectly white light, against which in a duskier white the sails of passing vessels were distinctly outlined, though no hulls were visible.

From Lippincott's Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science Old Series, Vol. 36—New Series, Vol. 10, July 1885 by Various

The floor of Julius Caesar is uneven in tone, becoming gradually duskier from S. to N., the northern end ranking among the darkest areas on the lunar surface.

From The Moon A Full Description and Map of its Principal Physical Features by Elger, Thomas Gwyn

The ocean ahead and around was the duskier for the spectral illumination of the near foam and the glimmer of the ice-coated ship.

From The Frozen Pirate by Russell, W. Clark (William Clark)

For the most part she was wrapped in clouds, of a dazzling lustre at the equator, and duskier towards the poles.

From A Trip to Venus by Munro, John

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

From Time ● Nov. 29, 2

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.

Then with a laugh at her own childishness she "touched wood" to propitiate the jealous fates and ran down stairs to hide herself in the duskiest corner of the veranda.

From Up the Hill and Over by Mackay, Isabel Ecclestone

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