darkly
UK /ˈdɑːkli/ · US /ˈdɑɹkli/ adverb, adjective
Forms darklier darkliest
- adverb With insufficient light for easy discernment or comprehension. “I could make out his image darkly.”
- adverb With a dark appearance.
- adverb (figuratively) In a manner which is not readily visible or noticeable; inconspicuously.
- adverb (figuratively) In a manner which retards or prevents discernment; clandestinely.
- adverb (figuratively) In a manner which is difficult to understand, or which retards or prevents understanding; incomprehensibly.
- adverb (figuratively) In a manner which tends to produce uncertainty or confusion; bewilderingly.
- adverb (figuratively) In a manner which produces an inward conviction of future misfortune; ominously.
- adverb (figuratively) In a morbid manner; morbidly, sinisterly. “a darkly comic dystopian drama”
- adjective (chiefly poetic) Relating to darkness or obscurity.
Synonyms
blackly sably anonymously obscurely unapparently unnoticeably covertly furtively inconspicuously secretly stealthily surreptitiously fathomlessly inscrutably mysteriously vaguely bafflingly perplexingly puzzlingly forebodingly in darkness
Etymology
From Middle English derkly, derkely, derkliche, derkeliche; equivalent to dark + -ly. Compare Old English deorclīċe, a parallel formation.
From Middle English derkely, equivalent to dark + -ly.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “darkly”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details