Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

inky

American  
[ing-kee] / ˈɪŋ ki /

adjective

inkier, inkiest
  1. black as ink.

    inky shadows.

  2. resembling ink.

    The solution was an inky liquid.

  3. stained with ink.

    inky fingers.

  4. of or relating to ink.

  5. consisting of or containing ink.

  6. written with ink.


inky British  
/ ˈɪŋkɪ /

adjective

  1. resembling ink, esp in colour; dark or black

  2. of, containing, or stained with ink

    inky fingers

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms


Etymology

Origin of inky

First recorded in 1575–85; ink + -y 1


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.

See Examples For:

At night, the narrow cobbled streets of Old Havana are enveloped in inky black, devoid of power and virtually deserted.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

“We didn’t see it at the time, but item by inky item we were turning him into a New York icon,” wrote former Page Six reporter and editor Susan Mulcahy in a 2016 Politico piece.

From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026

Elsewhere, a stripe of lemon yellow radiates against an inky background, interrupted by numerous dark patches.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025

The vision turns spookier: “Her inky eyes bulged. Mā opened her mouth wide, as if to say something, and dirt spilled out.”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2025

“There’s an easier way,” said Hermione, as Harry wiped his inky fingers on his jeans.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

Dark to begin with, the 1966 musical grew still inkier with Sam Mendes’ mid-1990s revival.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2018

THE GRAND-DUKE   And the inkier the blackness     All the clearer do we see   To select the whitest pigeon   In the dove-cote, and the bluest     Blue jay on the shuddering tree!

From Chantecler Play in Four Acts by Edmond Rostand

Here and there an inkier blackness moving showed a unit that had begun to find itself again.

From From Capetown to Ladysmith An Unfinished Record of the South African War by G. W. (George Warrington) Steevens

They swept the heavens over and back, steadied awhile pointing inland, and went out again, leaving an even inkier blackness than before, and setting the watchers blinking and rubbing their dazzled eyes.

From H.M.S. —— by John Graham Bower

And as the road once again shaped for another crater-like ravine, plunged in inkier darkness and shrouded in solemn stillness, thoughts surged rapidly through one's mind.

From Across the Equator A Holiday Trip in Java by Thomas H. Reid

Give that information a moment to sink in, to really scrabble its way inside the inkiest crannies of your gray matter.

From Salon ● Apr. 27, 2018

Shooting in 35-millimeter black-and-white film, Mr. Garrel fills the wide screen with a ravishment of tones, from inkiest black to crystalline white and every imaginable gray in between.

From New York Times ● Jan. 11, 2018

His figures — rendered in the inkiest shades of black — command notice and authority.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 9, 2017

From the palest blush of pink to the inkiest blue, stone fruit come in a vast array of colors, enriching the beauty – and nutrition – of your dining palette.

From US News ● Jul. 14, 2015

The top of one pinnacle took the shapely, clean-cut form of a rabbit's head, in the inkiest silhouette, while it rested against the moon.

From A Tramp Abroad — Volume 07 by Mark Twain

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Just like flashcards, but way more fun

Don't take our word for it. Leave the boring studying behind and join VocabTrainer today. You'll learn even faster and never look back.

Take me to Vocabulary.com