swarthy
/ˈswɔːði
/adjective (swarthier, swarthiest)
Dark-complexioned: swarthy men with gleaming teeth...
- Perrault's ‘Bluebeard’ is the story of a rich, middle-aged gentleman, named for his swarthy chin and saturnine manner, who marries a young woman.
- The swarthy figure jogging through the centre of Amsterdam might only have been vaguely familiar last week had it not been for the slightly grubby Hearts training top he was wearing.
- Tough, swarthy men milled about with bales and ropes.
Synonyms
dark, dark-coloured, dark-skinned, dark-complexioned, dusky, tanned, black, saturnine, olive-skinned;
sallow
rare swart
Derivatives
swarthily
- She slapped the insect against her side mightily, with a gesture like a very fat man swarthily admiring his own girth.
- He was charming and swarthily handsome but equally jealous and controlling.
- Just ahead of me in the checkout line was a really swarthily handsome young guy, perhaps Arab, dressed casually Western.
swarthiness
- A man, probably in his 70s, he has a swarthiness from what looked like a fading tan; jowlish, with heavy-lidded drooping eyes, a high forehead with a full head of dark brown hair brushed back and a cashmere overcoat casually slung like a cape over his just slightly stooped shoulders.
- I smeared my face with Jolen creme bleach, trying to obliterate my swarthiness.
Origin
Late 16th century: alteration of obsolete swarty (see swart).