swarthy
pronunciation
How to pronounce swarthy in British English:
UK [ˈswɔ:ði]
How to pronounce swarthy in American English:
US [ˈswɔrði]
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- Adjective:
- naturally having skin of a dark color
Word Origin
- swarthy
- swarthy: [16] Old English sweart meant ‘black’. It came from a prehistoric Germanic *swartaz, which also produced German schwarz, Dutch zwart, Swedish svart, and Danish sort, and may go back ultimately to the same Indo-European base as gave Latin sordidus ‘dirty’ (source of English sordid [16]). It survives, just, in modern English as swart ‘dark, black’. From this in the 16th century was derived the now defunct swarty, of which swarthy is an unexplained variant.=> sordid
- swarthy (adj.)
- "dark-colored," especially of skin, 1580s, unexplained alteration of swarty (1570s), from swart + -y (2). Related: Swarthiness.
Example
- 1. A swarthy man in his 50s , he had worked in nuclear-power stations for 25 years .
- 2. Koreans and chinese , on the other hand , are depicted as swarthy , brutish and slit-eyed .
- 3. The goblin was about a head shorter than harry . He had a swarthy , clever face , a pointed beard and , harry noticed , very long fingers and feet .
- 4. Although no contemporary descriptions or paintings of sappho remain , many artists have depicted her as being classically beautiful with flowing dark curly hair , slim but with womanly curves , swarthy skin and deeply mysterious eyes .