blacken

Meanings

Verb

make or become black
- "The smoke blackened the ceiling"
- "The ceiling blackened"
burn slightly and superficially so as to affect color
- "The cook blackened the chicken breast"
To cause to be or become black.
To become black.
To make dirty.
To defame or sully.
To cook (meat or fish) by coating with pepper, etc., and quickly searing in a hot pan.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English blaknen, blakkenen, equivalent to black + -en (verbal suffix).

Synonyms

black, char, defame, denigrate, dirty, melanise, melanize, nigrify, scorch, sear, soil, sully, taint, tarnish

Antonyms

whiten

Scrabble Score: 15

blacken is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
blacken is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
blacken is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 19

blacken is a valid Words With Friends word