swarthiness

American  

[swawr-thee-nis, -thee-] / ˈswɔr ði nɪs, -θi- /

noun

1. darkness of the skin or complexion.

   In numerous ancient Greek writings, the paleness and blondness of the northern people is contrasted with the swarthiness of the Egyptians and Ethiopians.

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Etymology

Origin of swarthiness

swarthy ( def. ) + -ness ( def. )

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

swarthiness

On a recent episode, Bim and Nichole talk about one Jason’s “rough-and-ready charms” and the other’s raspy-voiced swarthiness.

From Slate ● Nov. 12, 2019

When Roger opened his eyes and saw him, a darker shadow crept beneath the swarthiness of his skin; but Jack noticed nothing.

From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding

"The theory that swarthiness produced by sun-burning need not be disfiguring to a woman" is, Margoliouth holds, taken by Theocritus from Canticles.

From The Book of Delight and Other Papers by Israel Abrahams

Heat, and the dust of the straw, the violent labour had darkened his face from brown almost to blackness—a more than swarthiness, a blackness.

From The Life of the Fields by Richard Jefferies

The traits that first strike a stranger in a Portuguese belle, are the tendency to embonpoint in the figure, and to darkness—I had almost said swarthiness, in complexion.

From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 10, No. 267, August 4, 1827 by Various

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