ashy

adj

Etymology: From Middle English asshy, asky, equivalent to ash + -y.

1. Resembling ashes (especially in colour); (of a person’s complexion) unusually pale as a result of strong emotion, illness, etc.

   “Still is he sullein, still he lowres and frets, / Twixt crimson shame, and anger ashie pale,”

   “Tell her that sicknesse, with her ashie hand, / Hath swept away the beauty from my cheekes,”

2. Comprising, containing, or covered with ash.

   “Ye heauenly spirites, whose ashie cinders lie / Vnder deep ruines, with huge walls opprest,”

   “[…] where yet the Embers glow, / Wide o’er the Pyle the sable Wine they throw, / And deep subsides the ashy Heap below.”

3. Having dry or dead skin (therefore discolored).

   “It was summer and his pants were short, so the pickle juice made clean streams down his ashy legs[…]”

   “After passing it under her runny nose, a skinny chalk-colored girl raised a hand so disgustingly ashy, so white and dry-skinned, that it could only be black.”