swarthy

American  

[swawr-thee, -thee] / ˈswɔr ði, -θi /

adjective

swarthier, swarthiest

1. (of skin color, complexion, etc.) dark.

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swarthy British  

/ ˈswɔːðɪ /

adjective

1. dark-hued or dark-complexioned

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Other Word Forms

• swarthiness
  noun
• swarthily
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of swarthy

First recorded in 1570–80; unexplained variant of obsolete swarty ( swart + -y ¹ )

Explanation

Swarthy means dark skinned. If you like tall, dark and handsome men, you find a swarthy complexion attractive. Not everyone with dark skin is swarthy. The word is usually used to describe someone whose skin is weather beaten and darkened by the sun, or has an olive complexion. But the famous 19th-century American poet Walt Whitman, who was of English and Dutch stock, seemed to be describing himself in his poem "Behold This Swarthy Face," so swarthy may be in the eyes of the beholder.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

swarthy swarthier swarthiest

"You miss Russell Crowe, but Mescal is always watchable, with a stocky, swarthy, brooding presence," he added in the four-star review.

From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2024

Some in my father’s swarthy family liked to claim descent from Spanish Jews who fled the Inquisition to Poland — perhaps there was a reason for my affinity for Mediterranean food!

From Washington Post ● Feb. 5, 2020

Snow, the King in the North, was the perfect swarthy counterpart in his dark leather and furs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2019

This officer was thin and swarthy, and he had sad eyes.

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 7, 2019

The cheeks were swarthy with a permanent shadow, his thick brows joined in the center.

From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez

He was taller, swarthier and more imposing than I had expected.

From Time Magazine Archive

Behind him marched proudly a dusty line of men, well-armed and bearing great battle-axes; grim-faced they were, and shorter and somewhat swarthier than any men that Pippin had yet seen in Gondor.

From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien

His face was handsome, and bearded, but swarthier far than his companion's, and the backs of his long fine hands were almost black.

From The Sea-Hawk by Rafael Sabatini

Rend not the oak and the ivy in twain, Nor the swart maid from her swarthier swain.

From The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar by William Dean Howells

He was a much darker man than any other present—had, in fact, the appearance of a man of even a swarthier race than that of the others about us.

From Chronicles of Martin Hewitt by Arthur Morrison

The swarthiest among the swarthy faces, the darkest of dark hair, the most passionate among the fiery spirits belonged to Isaak Todros.

From An Obscure Apostle A Dramatic Story by C. S. de Soissons

The coarsest complexion gains in lustre and smoothness when attempt is made to render it upon ivory; the dainty groundwork gleams through and gives beauty and clearness to the swarthiest hues.

From Art in England Notes and Studies by Dutton Cook

Amid a roar of rage from a thousand throats, a roar that might have shaken the stoutest heart, and blanched the swarthiest cheek, Bezers disappeared within!

From The House of the Wolf; a romance by Stanley John Weyman

And do you, sir," continued the Guardsman to the swarthiest of them all, "feel the heat of the climate much?

From Here, There and Everywhere by Lord Frederick Spencer Hamilton