What does smoky mean?
Smoky is an adjective describing something that contains, emits, or is clouded by smoke. It is especially common when referring to a room, atmosphere, air, or landscape obscured by smoke or haze. The word can also describe a dark, muted gray-blue color, as in smoky blue, where it suggests subtlety and depth rather than simple brightness. In everyday use, smoky has a vivid sensory quality: it evokes visible haze, soot, fire, or an indistinct atmosphere. Literary descriptions often use it to suggest mystery, dimness, or mood, although the word itself remains fairly neutral and can simply describe an objective condition. Smoky is related to smoke, smoker, smoking, and smokeless. Its principal inflected forms include the comparative smokier and superlative smokiest, while smokily and smokiness provide the corresponding adverb and noun.
Filled with, containing, or emitting smoke; also dark gray or gray-blue in color.
"A smoky smell drifted from the old fireplace."
The color sense is especially established in the phrase smoky blue.
To emit smoke; to smoke.
"The damp branches smokied briefly before the flames caught."
This use is rare and less standard than the adjective.
Smoky does double duty: it can describe a room clouded with smoke or the muted blue-gray of a distant landscape.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does smoky come from?
Smoky was formed in English from smoke and the productive suffix -y, meaning “full of,” “characterized by,” or “tending to produce.” The adjective has been in use since the early 17th century, while the verb developed as a rarer extension of smoke. Words including smoke, smoker, smoking, and smokeless share the same root.
Related word forms
How smoky is actually used
The adjective is common in descriptive and literary English. In phrases such as smoky blue, it has a color-related use, while the verb is rare and substantially less standard than the adjective.
Easily confused with smoky
Smoggy describes air polluted by smog, whereas smoky more generally refers to smoke, haze, or a smoke-darkened color.