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

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

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

2

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

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

… the social construction of blackness, a social construction whose phenotypic reach I could not escape.

—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

Examples of blackness in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

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

Look closely, and the blackness, visually impenetrable but strangely soft, has been achieved by applying Rothko-like veils of layered pigment. —Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 9 Nov. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Middle English blaknesse, from blak black entry 1 + -nesse -ness

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1