dark

[dahrk] /dɑrk/
adjective, darker, darkest.
1.
having very little or no light:
a dark room.
2.
radiating, admitting, or reflecting little light:
a dark color.
3.
approaching black in hue:
a dark brown.
4.
not pale or fair; swarthy:
a dark complexion.
5.
brunette; dark-colored:
dark eyebrows.
6.
having brunette hair:
She's dark but her children are blond.
7.
(of coffee) containing only a small amount of milk or cream.
8.
gloomy; cheerless; dismal:
the dark days of World War II.
9.
sullen; frowning:
a dark expression.
10.
evil; iniquitous; wicked:
a dark plot.
11.
destitute of knowledge or culture; unenlightened.
12.
hard to understand; obscure.
13.
hidden; secret.
14.
silent; reticent.
15.
(of a theater) offering no performances; closed:
The theaters in this town are dark on Sundays.
16.
Phonetics.
  1. (of an l- sound) having back-vowel resonance; situated after a vowel in the same syllable.
    Compare clear (def 24a).
  2. (of a speech sound) of dull quality; acoustically damped.
noun
17.
the absence of light; darkness:
I can't see well in the dark.
18.
night; nightfall:
Please come home before dark.
19.
a dark place.
20.
a dark color.
verb (used with object)
21.
to make dark; darken.
verb (used without object)
22.
Obsolete. to grow dark; darken.
Idioms
23.
in the dark,
  1. in ignorance; uninformed:
    He was in the dark about their plans for the evening.
  2. in secrecy; concealed; obscure.
24.
keep dark, to keep as a secret; conceal:
They kept their political activities dark.
Origin
before 1000; (adj.) Middle English derk, Old English deorc; (noun and v.) Middle English, derivative of the adj.; compare Middle High German terken to darken, hide
Related forms
nondark, adjective
predark, adjective
Synonyms
1. Dark, dim, obscure, gloomy, murky refer to absence or insufficiency of light. Dark implies a more or less complete absence of light: a dark night. Dim implies faintness of light or indistinctness of form (resulting from the lack of light or from imperfect vision): a dim outline. Obscure implies dimness that may arise also from factors that interfere with light or vision: obscure because of haze. Gloomy means cloudy, ill-lighted, dusky: a gloomy hall. Murky implies a thick or misty darkness: murky water. 4. dusky, black. 12. recondite, abstruse.
Antonyms
1. lighted. 2. bright. 8. cheerful. 9. pleasant. 12. clear.
Examples from the web for dark
  • Both cones and rods participate in dark adaptation, slowly increasing their sensitivity to light in a dim environment.
  • They start checking your dark and light closets to see what is in them.
  • Colors include white and light or dark rose to purple, spotted with lighter colors.
  • One is that string theory has failed to shed light on the nature of dark energy.
  • As the years went by, both the hair of the angels and the hair of the devout artist turned from dark brown to white.
  • Also, for no apparent reason, dark spots often appear to be accompanied by light spots.
  • Active versions of the gene result in dark hair, whereas inactive ones produce light hair.
  • Something strange and wonderful happens when light enters a dark space through a tiny opening.
  • Here, with trees behind them blocking the sun, during the daytime the openings are dark voids and light bounces off the remainder.
  • If you are painting a light color onto a dark color, you may have to use two coats.
British Dictionary definitions for dark

dark

/dɑːk/
adjective
1.
having little or no light: a dark street
2.
(of a colour) reflecting or transmitting little light: dark brown Compare light1 (sense 29), medium (sense 2)
3.
  1. (of complexion, hair colour, etc) not fair or blond; swarthy; brunette
  2. (in combination): dark-eyed
4.
gloomy or dismal
5.
sinister; evil: a dark purpose
6.
sullen or angry: a dark scowl
7.
ignorant or unenlightened: a dark period in our history
8.
secret or mysterious: keep it dark
9.
(phonetics) denoting an (l) pronounced with a velar articulation giving back vowel resonance. In English, l is usually dark when final or preconsonantal Compare light1 (sense 30)
10.
(stock exchange, informal) go dark, (of a company) to remove itself from the register of major exchanges while continuing to trade
noun
11.
absence of light; darkness
12.
night or nightfall
13.
a dark place, patch, or shadow
14.
a state of ignorance (esp in the phrase in the dark)
verb
15.
an archaic word for darken
Derived Forms
darkish, adjective
darkly, adverb
darkness, noun
Word Origin
Old English deorc; related to Old High German terchennen to hide
Word Origin and History for dark
adj.

Old English deorc "dark, obscure, gloomy; sad, cheerless; sinister, wicked," from Proto-Germanic *derkaz (cf. Old High German tarchanjan "to hide, conceal"). "Absence of light" especially at night is the original meaning. Application to colors is 16c. Theater slang for "closed" is from 1916.

n.

early 13c., from dark (adj.). Figurative in the dark "ignorant" first recorded 1670s.

Slang definitions & phrases for dark

dark

adjective

Closed; not in operation: Monday is a ''dark'' day at Heinz Hall (1916+ Theater)

Related Terms

in the dark


Idioms and Phrases with dark

dark

In addition to the idioms beginning with dark
dark horse
also see: