Dictionary Definition
blacken
Verb
1 make or become black; "The smoke blackened the
ceiling"; "The ceiling blackened" [syn: melanize, melanise, nigrify, black] [ant: whiten]
2 burn slightly and superficially so as to affect
color; "The cook blackened the chicken breast"; "The fire charred
the ceiling above the mantelpiece"; "the flames scorched the
ceiling" [syn: char,
scorch]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -ækən
Etymology
Verb
Synonyms
Translations
make black
make dirty
defame, sully
- Swedish: svärta ner
cook by coating with pepper and quickly
searing
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
abuse,
asperse, attaint, bark at, becloud, bedarken, bedaub, bedim, begloom, begrime, berate, besmear, besmirch, besmoke, besmutch, besoil, bespatter, bestain, betongue, black, black out, blackwash, block the light,
blot, blot out, blotch, blow upon, blur, brand, brown, call names, cast a shadow,
cast aspersions on, censure, charcoal, cloud, cloud over, cork, darken, darken over, daub, defame, defile, denigrate, dim, dim out, dinge, dirty, disapprove, discolor, discredit, disparage, ebonize, eclipse, encloud, encompass with shadow,
engage in personalities, execrate, expose, expose to infamy,
fulminate against, gibbet, gloom, hang in effigy, heap dirt
upon, ink, jaw, libel, load with reproaches,
malign, mark, melanize, muckrake, murk, nigrify, obfuscate, obnubilate, obscure, obumbrate, occult, occultate, overcast, overcloud, overshadow, oversmoke, pillory, rag, rail at, rate, rave against, reprimand, revile, scorch, sear, shade, shadow, singe, slander, slubber, slur, smear, smirch, smoke, smouch, smudge, smut, smutch, soil, somber, soot, spot, stain, stigmatize, sully, taint, tarnish, throw mud at, thunder
against, tongue-lash, traduce, vilify, vituperate, yell at, yelp
at