smoky

"Smoky" is not only about real smoke in the air. It can describe anything that seems like smoke in some way: a room with smoke hanging in it, a soft gray haze, a food or drink with the taste or smell of smoke, or even a voice that sounds deep and a little rough.

You might talk about a smoky kitchen after something burns, a smoky flavor in barbecue sauce, or a smoky voice in a late-night song. It often suggests something hazy, deep, or touched by the smell or taste of fire.

The word "smoky" most often describes something that has smoke in it, is full of smoke, or seems covered by smoke. You can use it in a literal way for air, rooms, skies, or places where smoke is present: a smoky bar, a smoky cabin, a smoky horizon, or smoky air after a fire.

It is also common in descriptions of food and drink. When people say bacon, barbecue, paprika, cheese, or whisky is smoky, they mean it has the smell or taste of smoke, usually because of the way it was cooked, dried, or prepared. In this sense, the word is strongly linked to flavor and aroma.

"Smoky" can also be used more loosely for things that remind you of smoke in appearance or feeling. A picture, color, or landscape may look smoky if it seems gray, shadowy, blurred, or veiled in haze. A voice may be called smoky if it sounds low, soft, and slightly rough. Across these uses, the idea stays much the same: something touched by smoke, or something that feels like smoke in look, taste, smell, or sound.