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darkness

American  
[dahrk-nis] / ˈdɑrk nɪs /

noun

  1. the state or quality of being dark.

    The room was in total darkness.

  2. absence or deficiency of light.

    the darkness of night.

  3. wickedness or evil.

    Satan, the prince of darkness.

  4. obscurity; concealment.

    The darkness of the metaphor destroyed its effectiveness.

  5. lack of knowledge or enlightenment.

    heathen darkness.

  6. lack of sight; blindness.

Other Word Forms

  • predarkness noun

Etymology

Origin of darkness

First recorded before 1050; Middle English derknesse, Old English deorcnysse; equivalent to dark + -ness

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.