dusky vs tawny

dusky

noun
  • A dusky grouse. 

  • A dusky dolphin. 

  • A dusky shark. 

adj
  • Ashen; having a greyish skin coloration. 

  • Dimly lit, as at dusk (evening). 

  • Having a shade of color that is rather dark. 

tawny

noun
  • Tawny frogmouth. 

  • Synonym of tenné (“a rarely-used tincture of orange or bright brown”) 

  • In full tawny port: a sweet, fortified port wine which is blended and matured in wooden casks. 

  • Tawny owl. 

  • The common bullfinch or Eurasian bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula). 

  • A light brown to brownish orange colour. 

  • Something of a light brown or brownish orange colour (particularly if it has the word tawny in its name). 

verb
  • To become a light brown to brownish orange colour; to tan, to tawn. 

  • To cause (someone or something) to have a light brown to brownish orange colour; to tan, to tawn. 

adj
  • Of a light brown to brownish orange colour. 

How often have the words dusky and tawny occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )