a. and sb. [ad. L. subfuscus, var. of suffuscus: see SUB- 20 a + FUSK.] Of dusky, dull or somber hue.
a. 1763. Shenstone, Economy, III. 26. O’er whose quiescent walls Arachne’s unmolested care has drawn Curtains subfusk.
1770. J. Clubbe, Misc. Tracts, I. 4. Their subfusk complexions were probably acquired by greasy unguents and fuliginous mixtures dried in by the sun.
1853. ‘C. Bede,’ Verdant Green, I. v. [University] statutes which required him … to wear garments only of a black or ‘subfusk’ hue.
1887. W. Beatty-Kingston, Mus. & Mann., II. 321. The surface … is become subfusk in hue with sheer feverish dryness.
1895. Pall Mall Gaz., 16 Dec., 11/1. The subfusc marbling of the convolvulus hawk [moth].
fig. 1893. E. Gosse, Questions at Issue, 150. To overdash their canvases with the subfusc hues of sentiment.
1900. Athenæum, 28 July, 116/1. Such Philistines … provide a suitable and sub-fusk background for the real figures in the Italian family group.
b. (a) absol. with the; (b) as sb. Subfusc color.
1710. Steele & Addison, Tatler, No. 260, ¶ 5. The Portuguese’s Complexion was a little upon the Subfusk.
1882. Blackw. Mag., Aug., 234. The Apotheker had not deigned to alter or add to his ordinary suit of professional ‘subfusk.’ Ibid. (1914), Jan., 109/2. They give us drabs and subfuscs instead of the glowing colours of life.
