swarthy
/ˈswɔɹði/adjective, noun
swarthy is spelled S-W-A-R-T-H-Y: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 77,666th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, swarthy means “Tawny, dusky, dark” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in swarthy?
| Letters | 7: S-W-A-R-T-H-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 7 million words; the 77,666th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is swarthy?
Swarthy appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 77,666th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce swarthy?
- US /ˈswɔɹði/
Swarthy has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-swarthy.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of swarthy
- swarthier comparative
- swarthiest superlative
- swarthies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does swarthy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Tawny, dusky, dark.
- 2
derogatoryDark-skinned; black.
- 3
Darker-skinned than white, but lighter-skinned than tawny; tan.
- 4
A dark grey color.
- 5
nonstandardEvil, malicious.
- 6
nonstandardWeathered, rough.
noun
- 1
A swarthy person.
Real controversial stuff, sure, but you know what, he was actually in the dead center of polite opinion when it came to the Negroes and the swarthies and money-grubbing kikes and all those other lovely stereotypes.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does swarthy come from?
Alteration of obsolete swarty, from swart + -y, from Old English sweart (“black”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).