blacken

verb
UK: /ˈblækən/
US: /ˈblækən/

  1. To become black or dark.

    1. The toast will blacken if you leave it too long. [ ] [ ]
    2. Pollution can slowly blacken the facades of historic buildings over time. [ ] [ ]

  2. To make something black or dark.

    1. Smoke will blacken the walls. [ ] [ ]
    2. Years of soot and grime had blacken the old factory's exterior beyond recognition. [ ] [ ]

  3. To damage someone's reputation.

    1. He tried to blacken my name. [ ] [ ]
    2. The smear campaign attempted to blacken the politician's reputation before the election. [ ] [ ]

Synonyms

defame darken sully besmirch smear
blacken intransitive-verb

  1. To make or become dark.

    1. The sky will blacken before storm. [ ] [ ]
    2. With the threat of war, the mood of the nation began to blacken noticeably. [ ] [ ]
blacken transitive-verb

  1. To make something dark or black.

    1. Please blacken the text. [ ] [ ]
    2. To blacken the metal, he used a special chemical solution for the project. [ ] [ ]

  2. To say bad things about someone.

    1. They will blacken you, believe me. [ ] [ ]
    2. The company's rivals tried to blacken its reputation by spreading false information. [ ] [ ]

Frequently Asked Questions

The word "blacken" in English means: To become black or dark., To make something black or dark., To damage someone's reputation..

The phonetic transcription of "blacken" is /ˈblækən/ in British English and /ˈblækən/ in American English. Click the 🔊 button to hear both pronunciations.

Synonyms for "blacken": defame, darken, sully, besmirch, smear.

Example usage of "blacken": "The toast will blacken if you leave it too long.". More examples on the page.