blackness
noun
black·ness
ˈblak-ˌnəs 
1
: the quality or state of being black: such as
a
: black color
Massive pots of oil, shellacked to a profound blackness by seasons of smoke and burnt grease, sit above burning slats of wood that seem to have been salvaged from the wreckage of the last hurricane.—
Pete Wells
Pete Wells
b
: darkness
As Kit lay wide awake in the blackness, some distant shouts, a snatch of raucous, unrestrained singing such as she had never heard before in Wethersfield, sent her mind back to the days of her childhood.—Elizabeth George Speare
Elizabeth George Speare
c
: a gloomy or somber feeling, tone, or character
"… Think of me at this hour, in a strange place, labouring under a blackness of distress that no fancy can exaggerate …"—Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson2
or less commonly Blackness
a
: the fact or state of belonging to a population group that has dark pigmentation of the skin : the fact or state of being Black (see black entry 1 sense 2a)
"In those days, racism and discrimination was overt. … people could see my blackness and would react to that. …"—Annette Nelson
Annette Nelson
b
: the social and cultural identity and experience of Black people
I, on the other hand, feel it is my blackness (not my skin color so much as the culture that nurtured me) that causes me to open myself, acknowledge my soul and its varied components …—Alice Walker
Alice Walker… the social construction of blackness, a social construction whose phenotypic reach I could not escape.—Devon W. Carbado
Devon W. Carbado
also
: representations or expressions of this (as in art or literature)
… a conversation … exploring Blackness and gender identity within fine art and popular culture. —Ann Fink
Ann Fink Examples of blackness in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Gibson saw McCandless suspended alone in the abyssal blackness—angled slightly from the vertical, his white suit seeming to glow beneath the unfiltered sunlight of outer space, the luminous blue band of Earth’s atmosphere curving away beneath him.
—Adam Higginbotham, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 May 2024
In coastal cities from Naples to Venice, the sea glitters tantalizingly in the afternoon sun, but beneath its surface lurks an unknowable expanse of bottomless blackness.
—Judy Berman, TIME, 4 Apr. 2024
Now the blackness has reached its apex, occluding all but a sliver of light.
—Jennifer Homans, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024
At first glance, the pinpoints of light shining in the blackness of space look like little stars.
—Dean Regas, The Enquirer, 2 Mar. 2024
Manny looked out the window and saw part of his neighbor’s roof break off and disappear into the swirling blackness swallowing the sky.
—Alicia Victoria Lozano, NBC News, 6 Feb. 2024
Our long and memorable evening ended in pitch blackness.
—Neal B. Freeman, National Review, 7 Feb. 2024
As the company prepares for its upcoming uncrewed test flights, the dream of experiencing the blackness of space from the comfort of Spaceship Neptune is closer than ever before.
—Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, Fox News, 6 Jan. 2024
The surf slams, invisible a few feet away in the profound blackness, the undertow sucking back, the stormy breeze dizzying.
—Nina Burleigh, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Jan. 2024
Adam Higginbotham, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 May 2024
In coastal cities from Naples to Venice, the sea glitters tantalizingly in the afternoon sun, but beneath its surface lurks an unknowable expanse of bottomless blackness.
—Judy Berman, TIME, 4 Apr. 2024
Now the blackness has reached its apex, occluding all but a sliver of light.
—Jennifer Homans, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024
At first glance, the pinpoints of light shining in the blackness of space look like little stars.
—Dean Regas, The Enquirer, 2 Mar. 2024
Manny looked out the window and saw part of his neighbor’s roof break off and disappear into the swirling blackness swallowing the sky.
—Alicia Victoria Lozano, NBC News, 6 Feb. 2024
Our long and memorable evening ended in pitch blackness.
—Neal B. Freeman, National Review, 7 Feb. 2024
As the company prepares for its upcoming uncrewed test flights, the dream of experiencing the blackness of space from the comfort of Spaceship Neptune is closer than ever before.
—Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, Fox News, 6 Jan. 2024
The surf slams, invisible a few feet away in the profound blackness, the undertow sucking back, the stormy breeze dizzying.
—Nina Burleigh, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'blackness.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near blackness
Cite this Entry
“Blackness.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blackness. Accessed 20 May. 2024.
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