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

Three of her dusky, jazz-infused soul songs are in Spotify's Viral Top 50.

From BBC ● Jan. 16, 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

The sky is already dusky blue and long shadows stretch across the ground.

From "Without Refuge" by Jane Mitchell

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

In lieu of dusky billiard-rooms, the resort of duskier sharpers, there are magnificent saloons, containing five, ten, and sometimes twenty billiard-tables.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 87, January, 1865 by Various

The influence of Machiavelli, which had given Marlowe tragic figures that were bright and splendid and burning, smouldered in Webster into a duskier and intenser heat.

From English Literature: Modern Home University Library of Modern Knowledge by Mair, G. H. (George Herbert)

See the dusky shadows creeping over the Highlands, yonder, and their still duskier shadows in the still water.

From Shoulder-Straps A Novel of New York and the Army, 1862 by Morford, Henry

With a good deal of satisfaction Charlotta nodded her head, her hair showing even duskier in contrast with the white bandage over her forehead.

From The Red Cross Girls with Pershing to Victory by Vandercook, Margaret

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

From Time ● Nov. 29, 2

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

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

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

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

Related Words

• smoky