dusky

dusky

English

Etymology

dusk +‎ -y

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdʌs.ki/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌski

Adjective

dusky (comparative duskier, superlative duskiest)

1. Dimly lit, as at dusk (evening).

   I like it when it is dusky, just before the street lights come on.

   • 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 1, in The Dust of Conflict‎:

     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.

2. 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.

3. (dated) dark-skinned
   • 1911, James Creelman, Diaz: Master of Mexico‎, D. Appleton and Company, page v:

     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.

4. ashen; having a greyish skin coloration

   The patient was in shock and had a dusky skin tone.

Translations

dimly lit, as at dusk evening

Latin: creper Latvian: krēslains

Maori: kaurukiruki, tariko Russian: су́меречный (ru) (súmerečnyj)

dark-skinned — see dark-skinned

Noun

dusky (plural duskies)

1. A dusky shark.
2. A dusky dolphin.