1
as in to stain
to make dirty
blackened the towels with their dirty hands
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to libel
to make untrue and harmful statements about
the politician maliciously blackened his opponent's reputation
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to darken
to make dark, dim, or indistinct
thick smoke from the forest fires blackened the sky for many miles
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of blacken
His hands were blackened and showed signs of decomposition, Moya said.
—
Rick Jervis, USA TODAY, 9 Mar. 2025
Unlike a total solar eclipse, when the disk of the sun is completely blackened, an eclipsed moon does not vanish completely from the sky.
—Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, 11 Mar. 2025
But the negro resents and utterly repudiates the effort to blacken his good name by asserting that assaults upon women are peculiar to his race.
—Liz Tracey, JSTOR Daily, 21 Feb. 2025
By the end of January, the Palisades and Eaton fires had collectively burned more than 37,000 acres of land, blackened more than 1,500 structures, and claimed 29 lives, according to the New York Times.
—Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 19 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for blacken
Rick Jervis, USA TODAY, 9 Mar. 2025
Unlike a total solar eclipse, when the disk of the sun is completely blackened, an eclipsed moon does not vanish completely from the sky.
—Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, 11 Mar. 2025
But the negro resents and utterly repudiates the effort to blacken his good name by asserting that assaults upon women are peculiar to his race.
—Liz Tracey, JSTOR Daily, 21 Feb. 2025
By the end of January, the Palisades and Eaton fires had collectively burned more than 37,000 acres of land, blackened more than 1,500 structures, and claimed 29 lives, according to the New York Times.
—Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 19 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for blacken
Recent Examples of Synonyms for blacken
Verb
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If Bonhoeffer’s example is used to justify more far-right Christian violence in America, that would be another tragedy — and a cruel irony that would stain the legacy of a man who gave up everything to confront a tyrant.—
John Blake,
CNN Money,
13 Apr. 2025
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Pérez's manager, Enrique Paulino, spoke to reporters at the scene, his shirt stained with blood.—
Gordon G. Chang,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Apr. 2025
Verb
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As a new, inexpensive Chevrolet appeared in 1927 and The Dearborn Independent was sued for libeling a number of Jewish businessmen, Ford threw in the towel and apologized.—
George Pendle,
airmail.news,
15 Mar. 2025
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Please ask your daughter to stop libeling Miss Manners.—
Judith Martin,
The Mercury News,
25 Feb. 2025
Verb
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The spring sky darkened over the parking lot of the Swannanoa Ingles.—
Sara Murphy,
Charlotte Observer,
14 Apr. 2025
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Keeping the Trump tax cuts in place would significantly darken the country’s fiscal outlook.—
Andrew Duehren,
New York Times,
6 Apr. 2025
Verb
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For example, a small non-shedding dog that rarely goes outside won't dirty a bed nearly as fast as a large labarador that plays outside daily.—
Halee Miller Van Ryswyk,
Better Homes & Gardens,
7 Apr. 2025
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Grease dirtied the handles of the ovens, the microwave ovens and the coolers.—
David J. Neal,
Miami Herald,
14 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Timothy Martin smeared red and black paint on a case shielding a nearly 150-year-old sculpture by Edgar Degas, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.—
Michael Loria,
USA Today,
9 Apr. 2025
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Martin and a companion on April 27, 2023, entered the Washington, DC, museum and smeared washable red and black paint on the case protecting Edgar Degas’s 1881 Little Dancer Aged Fourteen in an effort to bring attention to the climate crisis.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
9 Apr. 2025
Verb
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The recipient's name was obscured, and it was noted that the migrant refused to sign it on Friday.—
Andrew Chung, Luc Cohen, Kristina Cooke,
USA Today,
20 Apr. 2025
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But the short-term bump in the stock price obscures a much more complicated picture.—
Justin Worland,
Time,
18 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Their reputations were besmirched.—
The Editors,
National Review,
17 Dec. 2024
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Images illustrating the reality versus carefully edited Instagram selfies have somewhat besmirched Santorini’s romantic reputation of late.—
Helen Iatrou,
AFAR Media,
16 Dec. 2024
Verb
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There was a period when Broadway creators thought the only way to get a performance was to humiliate a person.—
Mark Seliger,
Vulture,
7 Apr. 2025
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An investigation of at least eight fraternities found that members humiliated students through means like beating them with paddles or forcing potential recruits to eat live fish and drink urine, according to court filings.—
Dan Belson,
Baltimore Sun,
3 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Blacken.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/blacken. Accessed 25 Apr. 2025.
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