Adjacent Words

Dark definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

D'ARK, a.
1. Destitute of light; obscure. A dark atmosphere is one which prevents vision.
2. Wholly or partially black; having the quality opposite to white; as a dark color or substance.
3. Gloomy; disheartening; having unfavorable prospects; as a dark time in political affairs.
There is in every true woman's heart a spark of
heavenly fire, which beams and blazes in the dark
hour of adversity. Irving.
4. Obscure; not easily understood or explained; as a dark passage in an author; a dark saying.
5. Mysterious; as, the ways of Providence are often dark to human reason.
6. Not enlightened with knowledge; destitute of learning and science; rude; ignorant; as a dark age.
7. Not vivid; partially black. Leviticus 13
8. Blind.
9. Gloomy; not cheerful; as a dark temper.
10. Obscure; concealed; secret; not understood; as a dark design.
11. Unclean; foul.
12. Opake. But dark and opake are not synonymous. Chalk is opake, but not dark.
13. Keeping designs concealed.
The dark unrelenting Tiberius. Gibbon.
D'ARK, n.
1. Darkness; obscurity; the absence of light. We say we can hear in the dark.
Shall the wonders be known in the dark? Ps.
1xxxviii.
2. Obscurity; secrecy; a state unknown; as, things done in the dark.
3. Obscurity; a state of ignorance; as, we are all in the dark.
D'ARK, v.t.
1. To make dark; to deprive of light; as, close the shutters and darken the room.
2. To obscure; to cloud.
His confidence seldom darkened his foresight.
Bacon.
3. To make black.
The locusts darkened the land. Exodus 10.
4. To make dim; to deprive of vision.
Let their eyes be darkened. Romans 11.
5. To render gloomy; as, all joy is darkened. Isaiah 24.
6. To deprive of intellectual vision; to render ignorant or stupid.
Their foolish heart was darkened. Romans 1.
Having the understanding darkened. Ephesians 4.
7. To obscure; to perplex; to render less clear or intelligible.
Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words
without knowledge? Job 38.
8. To render less white or clear; to tan; as, a burning sun darkens the complexion.
9. To sully; to make foul.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: 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" [ant: light]
2: (used of color) having a dark hue; "dark green"; "dark glasses"; "dark colors like wine red or navy blue" [ant: light, light-colored]
3: brunet (used of hair or skin or eyes); "dark eyes"
4: stemming from evil characteristics or forces; wicked or dishonorable; "black deeds"; "a black lie"; "his black heart has concocted yet another black deed"; "Darth Vader of the dark side"; "a dark purpose"; "dark undercurrents of ethnic hostility"; "the scheme of some sinister intelligence bent on punishing him"-Thomas Hardy [syn: black, dark, sinister]
5: secret; "keep it dark"
6: showing a brooding ill humor; "a dark scowl"; "the proverbially dour New England Puritan"; "a glum, hopeless shrug"; "he sat in moody silence"; "a morose and unsociable manner"; "a saturnine, almost misanthropic young genius"- Bruce Bliven; "a sour temper"; "a sullen crowd" [syn: dark, dour, glowering, glum, moody, morose, saturnine, sour, sullen]
7: lacking enlightenment or knowledge or culture; "this benighted country"; "benighted ages of barbarism and superstition"; "the dark ages"; "a dark age in the history of education" [syn: benighted, dark]
8: marked by difficulty of style or expression; "much that was dark is now quite clear to me"; "those who do not appreciate Kafka's work say his style is obscure" [syn: dark, obscure]
9: causing dejection; "a blue day"; "the dark days of the war"; "a week of rainy depressing weather"; "a disconsolate winter landscape"; "the first dismal dispiriting days of November"; "a dark gloomy day"; "grim rainy weather" [syn: blue, dark, dingy, disconsolate, dismal, gloomy, grim, sorry, drab, drear, dreary]
10: having skin rich in melanin pigments; "National Association for the Advancement of Colored People"; "dark-skinned peoples" [syn: colored, coloured, dark, dark- skinned, non-white]
11: not giving performances; closed; "the theater is dark on Mondays" n
1: absence of light or illumination [syn: dark, darkness] [ant: light, lighting]
2: absence of moral or spiritual values; "the powers of darkness" [syn: iniquity, wickedness, darkness, dark]
3: an unilluminated area; "he moved off into the darkness" [syn: darkness, dark, shadow]
4: the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside [syn: night, nighttime, dark] [ant: day, daylight, daytime]
5: an unenlightened state; "he was in the dark concerning their intentions"; "his lectures dispelled the darkness" [syn: dark, darkness]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English derk, from Old English deorc; akin to Old High German tarchannen to hide Date: before 12th century 1. a. devoid or partially devoid of light ; not receiving, reflecting, transmitting, or radiating light <a dark room> b. transmitting only a portion of light <dark glasses> 2. a. wholly or partially black <dark clothing> b. of a color of low or very low lightness c. being less light in color than other substances of the same kind <dark rum> 3. a. arising from or showing evil traits or desires ; evil <the dark powers that lead to war> b. dismal, gloomy <had a dark view of the future> c. lacking knowledge or culture ; unenlightened <a dark period in history> d. relating to grim or depressing circumstances <dark humor> 4. a. not clear to the understanding b. not known or explored because of remoteness <the darkest reaches of the continent> 5. not fair in complexion ; swarthy 6. secret <kept his plans dark> 7. possessing depth and richness <a dark voice> 8. closed to the public <the theater is dark in the summer> Synonyms: see obscure • darkish adjective • darkly adverb • darkness noun II. noun Date: 13th century 1. a. a place or time of little or no light ; night, nightfall <after dark> b. absence of light ; darkness <afraid of the dark> 2. a dark or deep color III. verb Date: 14th century intransitive verb obsolete to grow dark transitive verb to make dark

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 with little or no light. 2 of a deep or sombre colour. 3 (of a person) with deep brown or black hair, complexion, or skin. 4 gloomy, depressing, dismal (dark thoughts). 5 evil, sinister (dark deeds). 6 sullen, angry (a dark mood). 7 remote, secret, mysterious, little-known (the dark and distant past; keep it dark). 8 ignorant, unenlightened. --n. 1 absence of light. 2 nightfall (don't go out after dark). 3 a lack of knowledge. 4 a dark area or colour, esp. in painting (the skilled use of lights and darks). Phrases and idioms: the Dark Ages (or Age) 1 the period of European history preceding the Middle Ages, esp. the 5th-10th c. 2 any period of supposed unenlightenment. the Dark Continent a name for Africa, esp. when little known to Europeans. dark glasses spectacles with dark-tinted lenses. dark horse a little-known person who is unexpectedly successful or prominent. dark star an invisible star known to exist from reception of physical data other than light. in the dark lacking information. Derivatives: darkish adj. darkly adv. darkness n. darksome poet. adj. Etymology: OE deorc prob. f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dark Dark (d[aum]rk), a. [OE. dark, derk, deork, AS. dearc, deorc; cf. Gael. & Ir. dorch, dorcha, dark, black, dusky.] 1. Destitute, or partially destitute, of light; not receiving, reflecting, or radiating light; wholly or partially black, or of some deep shade of color; not light-colored; as, a dark room; a dark day; dark cloth; dark paint; a dark complexion. O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon, Irrecoverably dark, total eclipse Without all hope of day! --Milton. In the dark and silent grave. --Sir W. Raleigh. 2. Not clear to the understanding; not easily seen through; obscure; mysterious; hidden. The dark problems of existence. --Shairp. What may seem dark at the first, will afterward be found more plain. --Hooker. What's your dark meaning, mouse, of this light word? --Shak. 3. Destitute of knowledge and culture; in moral or intellectual darkness; unrefined; ignorant. The age wherein he lived was dark, but he Could not want light who taught the world to see. --Denhan. The tenth century used to be reckoned by medi[ae]val historians as the darkest part of this intellectual night. --Hallam. 4. Evincing black or foul traits of character; vile; wicked; atrocious; as, a dark villain; a dark deed. Left him at large to his own dark designs. --Milton. 5. Foreboding evil; gloomy; jealous; suspicious. More dark and dark our woes. --Shak. A deep melancholy took possesion of him, and gave a dark tinge to all his views of human nature. --Macaulay. There is, in every true woman-s heart, a spark of heavenly fire, which beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity. --W. Irving. 6. Deprived of sight; blind. [Obs.] He was, I think, at this time quite dark, and so had been for some years. --Evelyn. Note: Dark is sometimes used to qualify another adjective; as, dark blue, dark green, and sometimes it forms the first part of a compound; as, dark-haired, dark-eyed, dark-colored, dark-seated, dark-working. A dark horse, in racing or politics, a horse or a candidate whose chances of success are not known, and whose capabilities have not been made the subject of general comment or of wagers. [Colloq.] Dark house, Dark room, a house or room in which madmen were confined. [Obs.] --Shak. Dark lantern. See Lantern. -- The Dark Ages, a period of stagnation and obscurity in literature and art, lasting, according to Hallam, nearly 1000 years, from about 500 to about 1500 A. D.. See Middle Ages, under Middle. The Dark and Bloody Ground, a phrase applied to the State of Kentucky, and said to be the significance of its name, in allusion to the frequent wars that were waged there between Indians. The dark day, a day (May 19, 1780) when a remarkable and unexplained darkness extended over all New England. To keep dark, to reveal nothing. [Low]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dark Dark, n. 1. Absence of light; darkness; obscurity; a place where there is little or no light. Here stood he in the dark, his sharp sword out. --Shak. 2. The condition of ignorance; gloom; secrecy. Look, what you do, you do it still i' th' dark. --Shak. Till we perceive by our own understandings, we are as muc? in the dark, and as void of knowledge, as before. --Locke. 3. (Fine Arts) A dark shade or dark passage in a painting, engraving, or the like; as, the light and darks are well contrasted. The lights may serve for a repose to the darks, and the darks to the lights. --Dryden.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dark Dark, v. t. To darken to obscure. [Obs.] --Milton.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(darker, darkest) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. When it is dark, there is not enough light to see properly, for example because it is night. It was too dark inside to see much... People usually draw the curtains once it gets dark... She snapped off the light and made her way back through the dark kitchen. ? light ADJ • darkness The light went out, and the room was plunged into darkness. • darkly ...a darkly lit, seedy dance hall. ADV: ADV -ed 2. The dark is the lack of light in a place. I've always been afraid of the dark. = darkness ? light N-SING: the N 3. If you describe something as dark, you mean that it is black in colour, or a shade that is close to black. He wore a dark suit and carried a black attachι case... ? light ADJ • darkly Joanne's freckles stood out darkly against her pale skin... ADV: ADV after v, ADV adj/-ed 4. When you use dark to describe a colour, you are referring to a shade of that colour which is close to black, or seems to have some black in it. She was wearing a dark blue dress. ? light COMB in COLOUR 5. If someone has dark hair, eyes, or skin, they have brown or black hair, eyes, or skin. He had dark, curly hair... ADJ 6. If you describe a white person as dark, you mean that they have brown or black hair, and often a brownish skin. Carol is a tall, dark, Latin type of woman... ? fair ADJ 7. A dark period of time is unpleasant or frightening. This was the darkest period of the war. = black ADJ: usu ADJ n 8. A dark place or area is mysterious and not fully known about. ...the dark recesses of the mind. ADJ: ADJ n 9. Dark thoughts are sad, and show that you are expecting something unpleasant to happen. (LITERARY) Troy's chatter kept me from thinking dark thoughts. = gloomy ADJ: usu ADJ n 10. Dark looks or remarks make you think that the person giving them wants to harm you or that something horrible is going to happen. (LITERARY) ...dark threats. = sinister ADJ: usu ADJ n • darkly 'Something's wrong here,' she said darkly... ADV: ADV with v 11. If you describe something as dark, you mean that it is related to things that are serious or unpleasant, rather than light-hearted. Their dark humor never failed to astound him... ADJ: usu ADJ n • darkly The atmosphere after Wednesday's debut was as darkly comic as the film itself... ADV: ADV adj 12. see also pitch-dark 13. If you do something after dark, you do it when the sun has set and night has begun. They avoid going out alone after dark. PHRASE 14. If you do something before dark, you do it before the sun sets and night begins. They'll be back well before dark. PHRASE 15. If you are in the dark about something, you do not know anything about it. The investigators admit that they are completely in the dark about the killing... PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR after v, oft PHR about n 16. If you describe something someone says or does as a shot in the dark or a stab in the dark, you mean they are guessing that what they say is correct or that what they do will be successful. Every single one of those inspired guesses had been shots in the dark. PHRASE: shot inflects

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Unilluminated, unenlightened, dusky shadowy, rayless, sunless, darksome, lurid, murky, cloudy, shady, overcast, black, ebon, Cimmerian, pitchy. 2. Mysterious, obscure, incomprehensible, unintelligible, enigmatical, mystic, mystical, recondite, occult, transcendental, abstruse, cabalistic. 3. Gloomy, disheartening, discouraging, cheerless, dismal. 4. Untaught, ignorant, unlettered, rude, darkened, benighted. 5. Wicked, atrocious, infamous, foul, nefarious, flagitious, horrible, damnable, vile, infernal. II. n. 1. Darkness, obscurity, want of light. 2. Concealment, secrecy, privacy. 3. Ignorance, blindness, want of knowledge.

Moby Thesaurus

Egyptian darkness, Erebus, Gothicism, Stygian, ableptical, abominable, abstruse, adiaphanous, age of ignorance, amaurotic, amoral, amorphous, amorphousness, apocalyptic, arcane, arrant, atramentous, atrocious, bad, baleful, baneful, barbarism, base, beamless, beetle-browed, benighted, benightedness, benightment, bereft of light, black, black as coal, black as ebony, black as ink, black as midnight, black as night, black-browed, black-skinned, blackish, blackness, blamable, blameworthy, bleak, blear, bleared, bleary, blind, blurred, blurry, bodeful, boding, brown, brunet, cabalistic, caliginous, castellatus, censored, cheerless, cirrose, cirrous, classified, clear as mud, close, closed, closemouthed, cloud-flecked, clouded, cloudy, coal-black, coaly, color-blind, colored, complicated, concealed, confused, conscienceless, corrupt, corrupted, criminal, crooked, cryptic, cumuliform, cumulous, damnable, dark age, dark as night, dark as pitch, dark-colored, dark-complexioned, dark-skinned, darkish, darkling, darkness, darkness visible, darksome, dead of night, deep, deep black, dejected, devilish, devious, dim, dim-sighted, dire, dirty, discreet, disgraceful, dishonest, dishonorable, dismal, doleful, doomful, doubtful, dour, drab, drear, drearisome, dreary, dubious, dull, dumpish, dun, dusk, dusky, ebon, ebony, eclipsed, enigmatic, esoteric, evasive, evil, evil-starred, execrable, eyeless, faint, fateful, feeble, felonious, filmy, fishy, flagitious, flagrant, fog, fogginess, foggy, foreboding, foul, fraudulent, frowning, funebrial, funereal, fuzziness, fuzzy, gloom, gloominess, gloomy, glowering, glum, grave, gray, grim, grum, grumly, half-seen, half-visible, hazy, heathenism, heavy, heinous, hellish, hemeralopic, hermetic, hidden, hush-hush, ignorance, ignorant, ill, ill-boding, ill-defined, ill-fated, ill-got, ill-gotten, ill-lighted, ill-lit, ill-omened, ill-starred, immoral, impenetrable, impervious to light, improper, in darkness, in the dark, inauspicious, incomprehensible, inconspicuous, indefinite, indeterminate, indeterminateness, indirect, indistinct, indistinctness, indistinguishable, infamous, iniquitous, ink-black, inky, insidious, intense darkness, intransparent, intricate, jetty, joyless, knavish, knotty, latent, lenticularis, lightlessness, low, low-profile, lowering, mammatus, melancholy, melanian, melanic, melanistic, melano, melanotic, melanous, menacing, merely glimpsed, midnight, mind-blind, mist, mistiness, misty, monstrous, moodish, moody, moonlessness, mopey, moping, mopish, morose, mournful, muddy, mumbo jumbo, mumpish, murk, murkiness, murky, mysterious, mystic, mystical, mystification, mystifying, naughty, nebulous, nefarious, night, night-black, night-clad, night-cloaked, night-dark, night-enshrouded, night-filled, night-mantled, night-veiled, nightfall, nigrescent, nigrous, nimbose, not kosher, nubilous, nyctalopic, obfuscated, obfuscation, obscurantism, obscuration, obscure, obscure darkness, obscured, obscurity, occult, occulted, of evil portent, ominous, opacity, opaque, out of focus, overcast, overclouded, paganism, pale, peccant, perplexity, pessimistic, pitch-black, pitch-dark, pitch-darkness, pitchy, pitchy darkness, portending, profound, puzzling, questionable, rank, raven, raven-black, rayless, recondite, reprehensible, reprobate, restricted, roiled, roily, rotten, sable, sad, satanic, saturnine, savagery, scandalous, scowling, secret, secretive, semivisible, shadowy, shady, shameful, shameless, shapeless, shapelessness, shifty, sightless, sinful, sinister, slippery, sloe, sloe-black, sloe-colored, smothered, sober, solemn, somber, sombrous, sorrowful, spiritually blind, squally, stark blind, starless, starlessness, stifled, stone-blind, stormy, stratiform, stratous, subfusc, sulky, sullen, sunless, sunlessness, suntanned, suppressed, surly, suspicious, swart, swarth, swarthiness, swarthy, tar-black, tarry, tenebrious, tenebrose, tenebrosity, tenebrous, tenebrousness, the palpable obscure, threatening, thunderheaded, top secret, total darkness, transcendent, tricky, triste, turbid, ulterior, unbreatheable, uncertain, unclarity, unclear, unclearness, uncommunicative, unconscienced, unconscientious, unconscionable, undefined, under security, under wraps, underhand, underhanded, undiscerning, undisclosable, undisclosed, undivulgable, undivulged, unenlightened, unenlightenment, unethical, unfathomable, unfavorable, unforgivable, unfortunate, unilluminated, unlighted, unlit, unlucky, unobserving, unpardonable, unperceiving, unplain, unplainness, unprincipled, unpromising, unpropitious, unrecognizable, unrevealable, unrevealed, unsavory, unscrupulous, unseeing, unspeakable, unspoken, unstraightforward, untellable, untold, untoward, unutterable, unuttered, unwhisperable, unworthy, vague, vagueness, velvet darkness, vicious, vile, villainous, visionless, weak, weariful, wearisome, weary, wicked, without remorse, without shame, wrong