ashy

adjective

ˈa-shē

ashier; ashiest

Synonyms of ashy next

: covered with or containing ashes

ashy smoke

ashy residue

ashy soil

the ashy remains of the burned building

… the forest opened up into a giant burn scar, with the blackened skeletons of trees stretching down an ashy hillside.—

Morgan McFall-Johnsen

: suggestive of or resembling ashes (as in color)

ashy grays

an ashy smell/taste

She wore her hair down in long ashy blonde waves that reached her hips.—

Alyssa K. Davis

especially : very pale (as from fright or illness) : ashen

Symptoms that clinicians should advise their patients to look out for include slowed breathing and skin turning ashy or blue. —

Maya Yang

African American English : of or relating to the grayish or whitish appearance of very dry skin

—used especially to describe this condition in people with a skin pigmentation that is darker than what is typically considered white (see white entry 1 sense 2a)

Ashy skin is caused by a lack of moisture, which leaves your skin dehydrated. It can appear on essentially any part of your skin. It's also common for the skin on your arms, legs, and face to become dehydrated and ashy.—

Eleesha LockettVaseline has long been a staple in Black medicine cabinets, healing everything from chapped lips to ashy elbows.—

Angela JohnsonExcessively cleaning my hands could result in dry, cracked skin, but I've been able to prevent them from becoming chapped and ashy with my arsenal of moisturizing hand creams and balms.—

Jennifer Ford

Example Sentences

paramedics knew she was in shock because she was ashy and shaking

Recent Examples on the Web Not enough purple shampoo won’t tone your brassiness, while using too much too often will turn your hair ashy or purple. —

Melanie Curry, Women's Health, 25 Apr. 2023 Researchers at the University of California, Davis captured photos of frog eggs after the sediment dump; they were covered by fine, ashy dirt, which blocks the eggs from getting oxygen. —

Ella Nilsen, CNN, 29 May 2022 One of his photos, posted 19 weeks earlier, was a triptych zooming in on a fuzzy form latched onto the side of an ashy World Trade Center building that, in each of the three images, became hazier; in the last photo the indistinct thing was circled and exposed as a DEMOLITION SQUID. —

Lauren Oyler, The Atlantic, 9 Jan. 2021 Their ashy traces would have blown away in days — and certainly not survived 2 million years. —

Bridget Alex, Discover Magazine, 17 July 2019 Around the path’s first curve, the roofline disappears from sight, replaced by vertical slats of ashy eucalyptus — reminiscent of a traditional material in northeastern Brazil made from the spindly branches of the biriba tree — which seem to grow straight down over the facade like petrified roots. —

New York Times, 8 Sep. 2021 All but the eastern portion of Lake Berryessa was ravaged by fire last week, turning the lovely greenery into black and ashy swaths of land. —

Trisha Thadani, SFChronicle.com, 25 Aug. 2020 One of nature’s most electrifying light shows, lightning can occur in watery clouds, ashy volcanoes or even extrasolar worlds. —

Shannon Palus, Discover Magazine, 28 Oct. 2015 As a result of the wildfires in the past few years in northern California, Tastry has made recommendations to clients on specific oak treatments that will mask the effects of smoke taint on grapes, which often causes ashy and burnt flavors in the final wine. —

Stephanie Cain, Fortune, 23 Aug. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ashy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.