tawnier; tawniest
1
: of the color tawny
2
: of a warm sandy color
the lion's tawny coat
tawniness
noun
Synonyms
Examples of tawny in a Sentence
Adjective
the tawny coat of a lion
Recent Examples on the Web
Krista Simmons, Sunset Magazine, 3 Nov. 2023
Pairing with Suzuki’s smart Mediterranean-Japanese cooking, Doi went all out with an array of sakes: Shikishima Junmai, a zephyr of peach blossoms and licorice; a tawny aged brew from 1988, as acidic and nutty as Oloroso sherry; blond mango sake as sweetly fragrant as Juicy Fruit gum.
—Adam Erace, Travel + Leisure, 14 Oct. 2023
Many of Argyle’s diamonds have a chocolatey brown or tawny hue.
—Maya Wei-Haas, New York Times, 19 Sep. 2023
And birds of prey like buzzards, sparrowhawks, barn owls, and tawny owls.
—Elizabeth Waddington, Treehugger, 13 Sep. 2023
Available in a wide variety of colors ranging from black to blush to tawny brown, the Original Short Rain Boot has an entirely rubber exterior.
—Theresa Holland, Travel + Leisure, 16 Aug. 2023
Perched on the petals of the cup plant, the bee is identifiable based on its black and white stripes and the tawny patch on its second abdominal segment.
—Rebecca Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 6 Sep. 2023
The rooms are spacious, averaging over 600 square feet, and serve as a perfect jumping-off point to explore the tawny Yorkville neighborhood.
—Kyle Beechey, Vogue, 5 Sep. 2023
His office is in the boomtown of Kolwezi, where concrete walls topped with razor wire bisect the huge tawny steppes of mining waste towering over the city.
—Arlette Bashizi, Washington Post, 5 July 2023
Vanessa Friedman, New York Times, 25 Jan. 2023
With black markings around his eyes and framing his white muzzle, the tawny, sleek lion was often caught on wildlife cameras mid-prowl.
—Justine McDaniel, Washington Post, 17 Dec. 2022
Gio Ponti chairs or those by Verner Panton, while friend groups can crash with a bottle of Barolo on a sumptuous tawny De Sede couch.
—Elise Taylor, Vogue, 2 Aug. 2022
And there the animal was, in a photo made famous in 2013 in National Geographic: tawny, sinewy, prowling below the Hollywood sign.
—Los Angeles Times, 21 Apr. 2022
So when LeBrun and colleagues found a type of fungus that seems to only target tawny crazy ants, they were immediately intrigued.
—Corryn Wetzel, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Apr. 2022
Another key neutral in the block heel boot department is brown, from deep, chocolate tones to tawny and cinnamon shades.
—Laura Lajiness, Vogue, 13 Nov. 2021
Wrapped in fur coats, one tawny and the other a deep chestnut, Grandma Bea and Aunt Doris are gilded, coiffed, and made up to the nines.
—Naomi Fry, The New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2021
For winemakers considering the port route, Karlicek said deciding whether to go ruby or tawny would be the first step.
—Georgann Yara, The Arizona Republic, 19 Aug. 2020
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Adjective
Here are the blue skies, the tawny hills, the grapevines tinged fierce red.
—Krista Simmons, Sunset Magazine, 3 Nov. 2023
Pairing with Suzuki’s smart Mediterranean-Japanese cooking, Doi went all out with an array of sakes: Shikishima Junmai, a zephyr of peach blossoms and licorice; a tawny aged brew from 1988, as acidic and nutty as Oloroso sherry; blond mango sake as sweetly fragrant as Juicy Fruit gum.
—Adam Erace, Travel + Leisure, 14 Oct. 2023
Many of Argyle’s diamonds have a chocolatey brown or tawny hue.
—Maya Wei-Haas, New York Times, 19 Sep. 2023
And birds of prey like buzzards, sparrowhawks, barn owls, and tawny owls.
—Elizabeth Waddington, Treehugger, 13 Sep. 2023
Available in a wide variety of colors ranging from black to blush to tawny brown, the Original Short Rain Boot has an entirely rubber exterior.
—Theresa Holland, Travel + Leisure, 16 Aug. 2023
Perched on the petals of the cup plant, the bee is identifiable based on its black and white stripes and the tawny patch on its second abdominal segment.
—Rebecca Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 6 Sep. 2023
The rooms are spacious, averaging over 600 square feet, and serve as a perfect jumping-off point to explore the tawny Yorkville neighborhood.
—Kyle Beechey, Vogue, 5 Sep. 2023
His office is in the boomtown of Kolwezi, where concrete walls topped with razor wire bisect the huge tawny steppes of mining waste towering over the city.
—Arlette Bashizi, Washington Post, 5 July 2023
Noun
Kylie Jenner was strutting through the marble halls of the Petit Palais trying to find her seat for Schiaparelli, shoehorned into spiky stilettos and a black velvet one-arm gown, a full-size tawny lion’s head jutting from the side.
—Vanessa Friedman, New York Times, 25 Jan. 2023
With black markings around his eyes and framing his white muzzle, the tawny, sleek lion was often caught on wildlife cameras mid-prowl.
—Justine McDaniel, Washington Post, 17 Dec. 2022
Gio Ponti chairs or those by Verner Panton, while friend groups can crash with a bottle of Barolo on a sumptuous tawny De Sede couch.
—Elise Taylor, Vogue, 2 Aug. 2022
And there the animal was, in a photo made famous in 2013 in National Geographic: tawny, sinewy, prowling below the Hollywood sign.
—Los Angeles Times, 21 Apr. 2022
So when LeBrun and colleagues found a type of fungus that seems to only target tawny crazy ants, they were immediately intrigued.
—Corryn Wetzel, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Apr. 2022
Another key neutral in the block heel boot department is brown, from deep, chocolate tones to tawny and cinnamon shades.
—Laura Lajiness, Vogue, 13 Nov. 2021
Wrapped in fur coats, one tawny and the other a deep chestnut, Grandma Bea and Aunt Doris are gilded, coiffed, and made up to the nines.
—Naomi Fry, The New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2021
For winemakers considering the port route, Karlicek said deciding whether to go ruby or tawny would be the first step.
—Georgann Yara, The Arizona Republic, 19 Aug. 2020
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tawny.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Adjective
Middle English, from Anglo-French tané, tauné, literally, tanned, from past participle of tanner to tan
First Known Use
Adjective
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Noun
15th century, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of tawny was
in the 14th century
Dictionary Entries Near tawny
Cite this Entry
“Tawny.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tawny. Accessed 6 Dec. 2023.
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Kids Definition
tawny
2 of 2 noun
plural tawnies
: a brownish orange to light brown color
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