dark

[ dahrk ]

adjective

, dark·er, dark·est.

1. having very little or no light:

   The movie projector works much better in a dark room.

2. radiating, admitting, or reflecting little light:

   A worm bin can be started in a 10-gallon plastic container in a dark color.

   Antonyms: bright

3. approaching black in hue:

   They stained the wood floor a dark brown.

4. not pale or fair in skin tone:

   My mother had a dark complexion, but my father's was lighter.

   Synonyms: black, dusky

5. brunette; brown or black:

   The man is described as 55 to 65 years old, with short gray hair and dark eyebrows.

6. having brown or black hair:

   She's dark but her children are blond.

7. (of food or drink, especially coffee beans) roasted, cooked, or toasted until near black in color: often used to describe the process itself:

   That brand of coffee is good, but I can't always find the dark roast.

8. (of coffee) containing only a small amount of milk or cream:

   We'll have two large coffees—one black, one dark and sweet.

9. evil; iniquitous; wicked:

   At the film's climax, the protagonist reveals a dark plot to assassinate the king.

10. gloomy; cheerless; dismal:

    He served as a courier for the Polish resistance during the dark days of World War II.

    Antonyms: cheerful

11. dealing with subject matter that is shocking, disturbing, or grim:

    This manga is a bit darker than the typical princess novel, as it has some scenes with gore.

12. sullen; frowning:

    With a dark expression, he demanded to know what she was doing.

    Antonyms: pleasant

13. hidden; secret.
14. hard to understand; obscure:

    Among the fragments left us by this poet, many lines are dark in meaning.

    Synonyms: abstruse, recondite

    Antonyms: clear

15. silent; reticent.
16. destitute of knowledge or culture; unenlightened.
17. (of a theater) offering no performances; closed:

    The theaters in this town are dark on Sundays.

18. Phonetics.
    1. (of an l- sound) having back-vowel resonance; situated after a vowel in the same syllable. Compare clear ( def 24a ).
    2. (of a speech sound) of dull quality; acoustically damped.

noun

1. the absence of light; darkness:

   I can't see well in the dark.

2. night; nightfall:

   Please come home before dark.

3. a color close to black, or something having such a color:

   Black and white photography has lots of darks.

   For best results, wash darks separately from whites.

4. Archaic. a place that lacks light:

   Imagine diving into the dark of the sea and seeing a face emerge from the watery shadows.

verb (used with object)

1. to make dark; darken:

   The windows of the car had been darked, making it impossible to see inside.

verb (used without object)

1. Obsolete. to grow dark; darken.

dark

/ dɑːk /

adjective

1. having little or no light

   a dark street

2. (of a colour) reflecting or transmitting little light Compare light 1 medium

   dark brown

3. 1. (of complexion, hair colour, etc) not fair or blond; swarthy; brunette
   2. ( in combination )

      dark-eyed

4. gloomy or dismal
5. sinister; evil

   a dark purpose

6. sullen or angry

   a dark scowl

7. ignorant or unenlightened

   a dark period in our history

8. secret or mysterious

   keep it dark

9. phonetics denoting an (l) pronounced with a velar articulation giving back vowel resonance. In English, l is usually dark when final or preconsonantal Compare light 1
10. go dark informal.
    stock exchange (of a company) to remove itself from the register of major exchanges while continuing to trade

noun

1. absence of light; darkness
2. night or nightfall
3. a dark place, patch, or shadow
4. a state of ignorance (esp in the phrase in the dark )

verb

1. an archaic word for darken

Derived Forms

• ˈdarkness, noun
• ˈdarkly, adverb
• ˈdarkish, adjective

Other Words From

• non·dark adjective
• pre·dark adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dark¹

First recorded before 1000; (for the adjective) Middle English derk, Old English deorc; (for the noun and verb) Middle English, derivative of the adjective; compare Middle High German terken “to darken, hide”

Word History and Origins

Origin of dark¹

Old English deorc ; related to Old High German terchennen to hide

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. go dark,
   1. to stop communicating, transmitting, or broadcasting:

      Thousands of websites went dark for a day to demonstrate that the bill would ruin the internet as we know it.

      I've tried to reach out, but he's gone dark and there's no contact.

   2. to shut down or stop operating; close, temporarily or permanently:

      The area is so depressed that more than half the restaurants in this county have gone dark in the past five years.

2. in the dark,
   1. in ignorance; uninformed:

      He was in the dark about their plans for the evening.

   2. in secrecy; concealed; obscure.
3. keep dark, to keep as a secret; conceal:

   They kept their political activities dark.

More idioms and phrases containing dark

• in the dark
• keep someone in the dark
• leap in the dark
• shot in the dark
• whistle in the dark

Synonym Study

Dark, dim, obscure, gloomy, murky refer to absence or insufficiency of light. Dark implies a more or less complete absence of light: a dark night. Dim implies faintness of light or indistinctness of form (resulting from the lack of light or from imperfect vision): a dim outline. Obscure implies dimness that may arise also from factors that interfere with light or vision: obscure because of haze. Gloomy means cloudy, ill-lighted, dusky: a gloomy hall. Murky implies a thick or misty darkness: murky water.

Example Sentences

Crusius, 21 years old, with wavy dark brown hair, sparse stubble collecting on his round chin, was awkward and introverted.

From Salon

As Tanton aged, his face would square, his dark hair turning white.

From Salon

I know, it’s not much of a consolation, but it’s something better than awful in these dark times.

From Los Angeles Times

Lennox, a Belfast native who previously worked on the Troubles-themed coming of age comedy “Derry Girls,” played an essential role in setting its tone which, though grim, is also inflected with dark humor.

From Los Angeles Times

This connection helped Doupe and Petticrew get through some dark days on set and also served the storytelling well: the Price sisters have what can only described as an intense, codependent relationship, which becomes even more deeply intertwined during their imprisonment.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• darkness
• dusk
• shade