dusky en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ˈdʌs.ki/
- (US) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree English dusk Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English dusky From dusk + -y.
Meanings
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Dimly lit, as at dusk (evening).
A beech wood with silver firs in it rolled down the face of the hill, and the maze of leafless twigs and dusky spires cut sharp against the soft blueness of the evening sky.
1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 1, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC:I like it when it is dusky, just before the street lights come on.
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Having a shade of color that is rather dark.
The dusky rose was of a muted color, not clashing with any of the other colors.
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(dated, literary) Dark-skinned.
The dusky sons of Mohammed have been having a high old time down at the British India Company’s wharves during the past few days. [. . .] It was the great week of ‘Hobson-Jobson,’ as it is known out East, or the time of the Mohurram.
1903 April 8, Queensland Figaro, Brisbane, page 23, column 2:I think that he was a little horrified at my cool way of taking the honour, but the fact was that I did not feel overwhelmed with gratitude at the prospect of seeing some savage, dusky queen, however absolute and mysterious she might be, more especially as my mind was full of dear Leo, for whose life I began to have great fears.
1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:In the raw attempt to apply the perfected institutions of Anglo-Saxon civilization to the descendants of the dusky races which inhabited Mexico before the discovery of America by Columbus, the Mexican statesmen of 1824 put the principles of democratic government to a terrible ordeal.
1911, James Creelman, Diaz: Master of Mexico, D. Appleton and Company, page v:You have your lovers - dusky beaus / Not made of the poetic stuff / That sports an Apollonian nose, / And wears a sleek Byronic cuff.
1877, Henry Kendall, “Ode to a Black Gin”, in The Australian Town and Country Journal, page 24:They "stuck on" fairly well, but sometimes these dusky jockeys fell off during the race.
1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 63:
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Ashen; having a greyish skin coloration.
The patient was in shock and had a dusky skin tone.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| duskier | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| duskiest | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Deriveds
dusky woodswallow · dusky bush tanager · dusky tit · dusky titi · dusky nembrotha · dusky gopher frog · dusky ant · duskily · dusky knight · dusky dark · dusky leaf monkey · dusky grouper · dusky betta · dusky thrush · dusky chlorospingus · dusky-blue · duskiness · dusky nerite · dusky dolphin · dusky warbler · duskywing
Synonyms
sable (dark-skinned) · swarthy (dark-skinned) · black (dark-skinned) · inky (dark-skinned) · sooty (dark-skinned)
Translations (16)
grc ὀρφναῖος (dimly lit, as at dusk evening) · ro întunecos (dimly lit, as at dusk evening) · fi hämärä (dimly lit, as at dusk evening) · cs temný (dimly lit, as at dusk evening) · cs zšeřelý (dimly lit, as at dusk evening) · fa گردناک (dimly lit, as at dusk evening) · ru су́меречный (dimly lit, as at dusk evening) · mi kaurukiruki (dimly lit, as at dusk evening) · mi nehunehu (dimly lit, as at dusk evening) · bg сумрачен (dimly lit, as at dusk evening) · fa سیاهگون (dimly lit, as at dusk evening) · lv krēslains (dimly lit, as at dusk evening) · la creper (dimly lit, as at dusk evening) · mi tariko (dimly lit, as at dusk evening) · cs setmělý (dimly lit, as at dusk evening) · ro întunecat (dimly lit, as at dusk evening)