dark
UK /dɑːk/ · US /dɑɹk/ adjective, noun, verb, proper noun
Forms darker darkest darks darking darked
- adjective Having an absolute or (more often) relative lack of light. “The room was too dark for reading.”
- adjective (of a source of light) Extinguished. “Dark signals should be treated as all-way stop signs.”
- adjective Deprived of sight; blind.
- adjective Transmitting, reflecting, or receiving inadequate light to render timely discernment or comprehension
- adjective (of colour) Dull or deeper in hue; not bright or light. “My sister’s hair is darker than mine.”
- adjective Ambiguously or unclearly expressed.
- adjective Marked by or conducted with secrecy. “The dark side of the moon.”
- adjective (gambling, of race horses) Having racing capability not widely known.
- noun A complete or (more often) partial absence of light. “Dark surrounds us completely.”
- noun (uncountable) Ignorance. “We kept him in the dark.”
- noun (uncountable) Nightfall. “It was after dark before we got to playing baseball.”
- noun A dark shade or dark passage in a painting, engraving, etc.
- verb (intransitive) To grow or become dark, darken.
- verb (intransitive) To remain in the dark, lurk, lie hidden or concealed.
- verb (transitive) To make dark, darken; to obscure.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
dim gloomy doused out quenched eyeless sightless unseeing caliginous darkling lightless sombre deep dull dusky full fuscous languid muted inky darkness iniquity wickedness shadow night nighttime black sinister dour glowering
Antonyms
bright light lit luminous radiant aglow alight beamful beamsome beamy brilliant effulgent
Etymology
From Middle English derk, from Old English deorc, from Proto-West Germanic *derk (“dark”), of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-Indo-European *dʰerg- (“dim, dull”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- (“dull, dirty”).
From Middle English derk, derke, dirke, dyrke, from the adjective (see above), or possibly from an unrecorded Old English *dierce, *diercu (“dark, darkness”).
Inherited from Middle English derken, from Old English deorcian, from Proto-West Germanic *derkōn, from *derk (“dirty, dark”) + *-ōn.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective 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.
- adjective Not clear to the understanding; not easily The dark problems of existence. Shairp.
- noun Absence of light; darkness; obscurity; a place where there is little or no light.
- noun The condition of ignorance; gloom; secrecy.
Etymology [OE. dark, derk, deork, AS. dearc, deorc; cf. Gael. & Ir. dorch, dorcha, dark, black, dusky.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “dark”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details