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dark

When something's dark, there is no light. Far from the city lights, it gets so dark at night that you can see many stars in the sky.

Dark comes from the Proto-Germanic word derkaz, which means "to hide or conceal." This meaning is preserved in the phrase kept in the dark, meaning purposely keeping information from someone. As an adjective, in addition to being the opposite of light, dark describes things that are gloomy, difficult to interpret or heavy, like a dark movie whose main character feels alienated from society.

PRIMARY MEANINGS OF: dark

1
 adjn
devoid of or deficient in light or brightness; shadowed or black
absence of light or illumination
2
 adjn
lacking enlightenment or knowledge or culture
absence of moral or spiritual values
3
 adj
secret
4
 adj
marked by difficulty of style or expression
5
 adj
not giving performances; closed
FULL DEFINITIONS OF: dark
1

adj devoid of or deficient in light or brightness; shadowed or black

“sitting in a dark corner”
“a dark day”
“dark shadows”
“dark as the inside of a black cat”
Synonyms
Acheronian, Acherontic, Stygian
dark and dismal as of the rivers Acheron and Styx in Hades
aphotic
lacking light; especially not reached by sunlight
black, pitch-black, pitch-dark
extremely dark
caliginous
dark and misty and gloomy
Cimmerian
intensely dark and gloomy as with perpetual darkness
crepuscular
like twilight; dim
darkened
become or made dark by lack of light
darkening
becoming dark or darker as from waning light or clouding over
darkling
(poetic) occurring in the dark or night
darkling
uncannily or threateningly dark or obscure
dim, subdued
lacking in light; not bright or harsh
dusky, twilight, twilit
lighted by or as if by twilight
gloomful, glooming, gloomy, sulky
depressingly dark
lightless, unilluminated, unlighted, unlit
without illumination
semidark
partially devoid of light or brightness
tenebrific, tenebrious, tenebrous
dark and gloomy
Antonyms:
light
characterized by or emitting light
ablaze, inflamed, reddened
lighted with red light as if with flames
autofluorescent
emitting light via self-induced fluorescence
bioluminescent
(of living organisms) emitting light
bright
having lots of light either natural or artificial
candescent
glowing from great heat
floodlighted, floodlit
illuminated by means of floodlights
fluorescent
emitting light during exposure to radiation from an external source
illuminated, lighted, lit, well-lighted
provided with artificial light
candent, incandescent
emitting light as a result of being heated
lamplit
lighted by a lamp
lighting-up
turning lights on
livid
(of a light) imparting a deathlike luminosity
luminescent
emitting light not caused by heat
phosphorescent
emitting light without appreciable heat as by slow oxidation of phosphorous
sunlit, sunstruck
lighted by sunlight
white
of summer nights in northern latitudes where the sun barely sets
show more antonyms...

adj (used of color) having a dark hue

“dark green”
“dark glasses”
“dark colors like wine red or navy blue”
Synonyms
black
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
darkish
slightly dark
Antonyms:
light, light-colored
(used of color) having a relatively small amount of coloring agent
white
being of the achromatic color of maximum lightness; having little or no hue owing to reflection of almost all incident light
pale
very light colored; highly diluted with white
palish
slightly pale
pastel
delicate and pale in color
powdery
as if dulled in color with a sprinkling of powder
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adj brunet (used of hair or skin or eyes)

“dark eyes”
Synonyms
brunet, brunette
marked by dark or relatively dark pigmentation of hair or skin or eyes

adj having skin rich in melanin pigments

“dark-skinned peoples”
Synonyms:
colored, coloured, dark-skinned, non-white
black
of or belonging to a racial group having dark skin especially of sub-Saharan African origin

n absence of light or illumination

Synonyms:
darkness
Antonyms:
light, lighting
having abundant light or illumination
Types:
show 9 types...
hide 9 types...
night
darkness
black, blackness, lightlessness, pitch blackness, total darkness
total absence of light
blackout, brownout, dimout
darkness resulting from the extinction of lights (as in a city invisible to enemy aircraft)
semidarkness
partial darkness
cloudiness, overcast
gloomy semidarkness caused by cloud cover
shade, shadiness, shadowiness
relative darkness caused by light rays being intercepted by an opaque body
dimness, duskiness
the state of being poorly illuminated
gloom, somberness, sombreness
a state of partial or total darkness
obscureness, obscurity
the state of being indistinct or indefinite for lack of adequate illumination
Type of:
illumination
the degree of visibility of your environment

n an unilluminated area

Synonyms:
darkness, shadow
Type of:
scene
the place where some action occurs

n the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside

Synonyms:
night, nighttime
Antonyms:
day, daylight, daytime
the time after sunrise and before sunset while it is light outside
Types:
weeknight
any night of the week except Saturday or Sunday
wedding night
the night after the wedding when bride and groom sleep together
Type of:
period, period of time, time period
an amount of time
2

adj lacking enlightenment or knowledge or culture

“the dark ages”
“a dark age in the history of education”
Synonyms:
benighted
unenlightened
not enlightened; ignorant

adj stemming from evil characteristics or forces; wicked or dishonorable

“Darth Vader of the dark side”
“a dark purpose”
“dark undercurrents of ethnic hostility”
Synonyms:
black, sinister
evil
morally bad or wrong

adj showing a brooding ill humor

“a dark scowl”
Synonyms:
dour, glowering, glum, moody, morose, saturnine, sour, sullen
ill-natured
having an irritable and unpleasant disposition

adj causing dejection

“the dark days of the war”
“a dark gloomy day”
Synonyms:
blue, dingy, disconsolate, dismal, drab, drear, dreary, gloomy, grim, sorry
cheerless, depressing, uncheerful
causing sad feelings of gloom and inadequacy

n absence of moral or spiritual values

Synonyms:
darkness, iniquity, wickedness
Types:
foulness
disgusting wickedness and immorality
Type of:
condition, status
a state at a particular time

n an unenlightened state

“he was in the dark concerning their intentions”
Synonyms:
darkness
Type of:
unenlightenment
a lack of understanding
3

adj secret

“keep it dark”
Synonyms
concealed
hidden on any grounds for any motive
4

adj marked by difficulty of style or expression

“much that was dark is now quite clear to me”
Synonyms:
obscure
incomprehensible, uncomprehensible
difficult to understand
5

adj not giving performances; closed

“the theater is dark on Mondays”
Synonyms
inactive
lacking activity; lying idle or unused
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