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

Michael Chybowski’s bold lighting brought out the rich, dusky hues of Susan Ruddie’s costuming, which suggested South Sea islanders clad in beachwear.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 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

He saw the first light of dawn a dusky rose in the east, the sun coming up from the direction of the enemy.

From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara

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

And then the clouds took a duskier red, and the solid mass of castle faded away into nothing.

From The Heart of Denise and Other Tales by S. (Sidney) Levett-Yeats

In five gleaming ponds trembled five duskier evening heavens, and every wave that leaped up painted itself to a ruby in the hovering fire of the sun.

From Hesperus or Forty-Five Dog-Post-Days Vol. I. A Biography by Jean Paul

Miss Jessie M. King's twenty-four drawings of its duskier corners bring out an endearing side of the character of old Glasgow.

From Law and Laughter by George A. (George Alexander) Morton

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 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 Florence Kelley

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 George Meredith

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 Isabel Ecclestone Mackay

But just within the archway, in its duskiest corner, there sat all day a living picture, a dark and handsome woman, apparently p. 289thirty years old, who was unveiled. 

From The Gypsies by Charles Godfrey Leland

Related Words

• smoky