sooty

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. adjective of the blackest black; similar to the color of jet or coal
  2. adjective covered with or as if with soot

Etymology

From Middle English sooty, soty, equivalent to soot + -y. Probably influenced by similar Middle English suti (“dirty, filthy”), derived from the same root as Old English besūtian (“to befoul”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

coal-black, jet, jet-black, pitchy

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