smoky
Americanadjective
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emitting, containing, or resembling smoke
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emitting smoke excessively or in the wrong place
a smoky fireplace
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of or tinged with the colour smoke
a smoky cat
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having the flavour of having been cured by smoking
-
made dark, dirty, or hazy by smoke
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of smoky
A Middle English word dating back to 1275–1325; see origin at smoke, -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:
“The quintessential image of price fixing is a secret deal made between competitors over cigars in a smoky back room,” attorneys wrote in the complaint.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
Gas grills heat up faster than charcoal and are easier to control, but they sacrifice some of the smoky flavor that makes live-fire cooking so distinctive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
“Then we went to the far north side of Chicago to a Lithuanian neighborhood to play some grizzled old guys upstairs at the top of an old, smoky bar. They creamed us.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
Models emerged from the smoky haze in effervescent hues of yellow, purple, and orange.
From Barron's ● May 14, 2026
Some of the rooms stink; it’s a bitter, almost smoky smell.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
The sky outside seemed even smokier than before.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 13, 2025
The air got smokier as we flew over the ice fields.
From Slate ● Aug. 9, 2024
But its profile leans sweeter, smokier and more savory — thanks to a couple forms of pepper, sharp white onion and a certain '90s throwback ingredient that may surprise some.
From Salon ● Feb. 22, 2023
The darker, the peatier, the smokier, the better.
From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2023
It had grown darker and smokier while they’d waited out the storm.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
Aged Cheddar is that cheese, sharp enough to stand up to the smokiest of smoked meats.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
“Today it’s actually the smokiest that we’ve seen,” Nancy Phillipe, a Yosemite fire information spokesperson, said Sunday.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 10, 2022
For the smokiest, most charred flavor, grill thick planks of eggplant and then combine them with garlic, scallions, vinegar, soy sauce, fish sauce, and sesame oil.
From Salon ● Feb. 8, 2022
The new culinary spinoff “Chef’s Table: BBQ” travels the world in search of the smokiest, sauciest, rib-stickingest barbecue.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2020
Early in the sweet June morning—sweet and fair although it brooded over London, the smokiest city in the world—Cynthia was again walking in Kensington Gardens.
From A Life Sentence A Novel by Sergeant, Adeline
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
