The word "smoky" serves as a versatile literary tool that can evoke rich, multifaceted atmospheres and textures. In some instances, it creates a tangible sense of physical miasma—illustrating polluted urban environments ([1]), gloomy factories and chimneys ([2], [3]), or even the literal haze of a summer afternoon ([4]). In other contexts, it enhances character descriptions or mystical landscapes, as when a shaggy dog is depicted with a “smoky” appearance ([5]) or the Great Smoky Mountains are invoked to lend an air of mythic grandeur ([6], [7], [8]). Meanwhile, the term often imbues a scene with an otherworldly or ambiguous mood, whether it’s seen in a dim, flickering lamp's glow ([9], [10]) or the dramatic interplay of light and shadow in heroic settings ([11], [12]). This layered usage—from the concrete to the metaphorical—demonstrates how “smoky” enriches the narrative with nuances of both physical presence and emotional depth.
- "London is terribly smoky and grimy at this time of year.
— from A True Friend: A Novel by Adeline Sergeant
- On the Causes and Cure of Smoky Chimneys. 1786.
— from Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin
- The Captain I had met before—on the occasion of the smoky chimney, which he had cured by some simple alteration in the flue.
— from Cranford by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
- It had been a warm, smoky summer afternoon.
— from Anne of the Island by L. M. Montgomery
- “You see Ilusha says that Zhutchka was a shaggy, grayish, smoky-looking dog like Perezvon.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- Atagâ′hĭ—“Gall place,” from ă′tăgû′ , gall, and hĭ , locative; a mythic lake in the Great Smoky mountains.
— from Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney
- A high peak of the Great Smoky mountains on the western border of Swain county, adjoining Tennessee.
— from Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney
- A high bald peak of the Great Smoky range on the Tennessee-North Carolina line, northeastward from Big Pigeon river.
— from Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney
- In the midst of all this the lamp still cast a smoky glow, obscure and brown as umber.
— from Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
- But presently I came to a smoky light proceeding from a low, wide building, the door of which stood invitingly open.
— from Moby Dick; Or, The Whale by Herman Melville
- How eagerly did my glance endeavour to penetrate the smoky distance!
— from A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Iurevich Lermontov
- Who, holding high a blazing torch, Showed the grim entrance of the porch: Reflecting back the smoky beam, The dark-red walls and arches gleam.
— from Marmion: A Tale Of Flodden Field by Walter Scott