dark
See also: Dark
English
Pronunciation
- (General American) enPR: därk, IPA(key): /dɑɹk/
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: därk, IPA(key): /dɑːk/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)k
- Homophones: doc, dock (non-rhotic with father-bother merger)
Etymology 1
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”).
Adjective
A fairly dark (lacking light) railroad station, with a very dark (lacking light) tunnel beyond
A woman with dark hair and skin.
dark (comparative darker, superlative darkest)
- Having an absolute or (more often) relative lack of light.
- The room was too dark for reading.
- 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], OCLC 752825175:
- They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?—and so magnificent a brush as he had too.
- 2013 July 20, “Out of the gloom”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
- [Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.
- (of a source of light) Extinguished.
- Dark signals should be treated as all-way stop signs.
- Deprived of sight; blind.
- 1661 April 8 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for 29 March 1661]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], volume I, 2nd edition, London: Henry Colburn, […]; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, […], published 1819, OCLC 976971842:
- He was, I think, at this time quite dark, and so had been for some years.
-
- Transmitting, reflecting, or receiving inadequate light to render timely discernment or comprehension: caliginous, darkling, dim, gloomy, lightless, sombre.
- (of colour) Dull or deeper in hue; not bright or light.
- my sister's hair is darker than mine; her skin grew dark with a suntan
- 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 639762314:
- Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. The clear light of the bright autumn morning had no terrors for youth and health like hers.
- 1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 2, in An Autobiography, part II, London: Collins, →ISBN:
- If I close my eyes I can see Marie today as I saw her then. Round, rosy face, snub nose, dark hair piled up in a chignon.
- Ambiguously or unclearly expressed: enigmatic, esoteric, mysterious, obscure, undefined.
- c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene ii]:
- What's your dark meaning, mouse, of this light word?
- 1594–1597, Richard Hooker, J[ohn] S[penser], editor, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, OCLC 931154958, (please specify the page):
- What may seem dark at the first, will afterward be found more plain.
- Template:RQ:Watts improvement
- 1881, John Shairp, Aspects of Poetry
- the dark problems of existence
-
- Marked by or conducted with secrecy: hidden, secret; clandestine, surreptitious.
- c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene i]:
- Meantime we shall express our darker purpose
- 1923, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter I, in Leave It to Psmith:
- “Clarence, can you lend me three thousand pounds on good security and keep it dark from Connie?”
- (gambling, of race horses) Having racing capability not widely known.
- 1831, Benjamin Disraeli, The Young Duke — a moral tale though gay :
- The first favourite was never heard of, the second favourite was never seen after the distance post, all the ten-to-oners were in the rear, and a dark horse which had never been thought of, and which the careless St. James had never even observed in the list, rushed past the grand stand in sweeping triumph.
-
- Without moral or spiritual light; sinister, malign.
- a dark villain; a dark deed
- 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
- Left him at large to his own dark designs.
- Conducive to hopelessness; depressing or bleak.
- the Great Depression was a dark time; the film was a dark psychological thriller
- 1856 December, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Samuel Johnson [from the Encyclopædia Britannica]”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, OCLC 30956848:
- A deep melancholy took possession of him, and gave a dark tinge to all his views of human nature.
- 1819 June 23 – 1820 September 13, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “(please specify the title)”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., New York, N.Y.: […] C. S. Van Winkle, […], OCLC 1090970992:
- There is, in every true woman's heart, a spark of heavenly fire, which beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.
- (of a time period) Lacking progress in science or the arts.
- 1668, John Denham, The Progress of Learning
- The age wherein he lived was dark, but he
Could not want light who taught the world to see.
- The age wherein he lived was dark, but he
- 1837–1839, Henry Hallam, Introduction to the Literature of Europe, in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: John Murray, […], OCLC 1010569041:
- The tenth century used to be reckoned by mediaeval historians as the darkest part of this intellectual night.
- 1668, John Denham, The Progress of Learning
- Extremely sad, depressing, or somber, typically due to, or marked by, a tragic or undesirable event.
- September 11, 2001, the day when four terrorist attacks destroyed the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, is often referred to as America's dark day.
- 2014 April 1, “Marathon Mementos Remind of Boston's Dark Day”, in NBC News:
- With emphasis placed on the unpleasant aspects of life; said of a work of fiction, a work of nonfiction presented in narrative form, or a portion of either.
- The ending of this book is rather dark.
- (broadcasting, of a television station) Off the air; not transmitting.
Synonyms
- (relative lack of light): dim, gloomy, see also Thesaurus:dark
- (sinister or secret): hidden, secret, sinister, see also Thesaurus:hidden
- (without morals): malign, sinister, see also Thesaurus:evil
- (of colour): deep, see also Thesaurus:dark colour
- (conducive to hopelessness): hopeless, negative, pessimistic
- (lacking progress): unenlightened
Antonyms
- (relative lack of light): bright, light, lit
- (of colour): bright, light, pale
Derived terms
- 0-dark-hundred
- 0-dark-thirty
- all cats are grey in the dark
- dark academia
- dark-activity
- dark-adapted
- Dark Ages
- dark ages
- dark and stormy
- dark art
- dark as the inside of a cow
- dark blue
- dark brown
- dark cabaret
- dark chocolate
- dark comedy
- Dark Continent
- darkcore
- dark culture
- dark current
- dark cutter
- darkcutter
- darkcutting
- dark data
- dark earth
- dark elf
- dark energy
- darkey, darkie, darky
- dark-eyed junco
- dark factory
- dark fiber
- dark fibre
- darkfic
- darkfield
- dark field
- dark figure
- dark flight
- dark flow
- dark fluid
- darkful
- dark glasses
- dark green fritillary
- dark-haired
- dark hearted
- dark-hearted
- dark horse
- dark-horse
- dark house
- dark humor
- dark humour
- dark hydrogen
- darkish
- dark jungle glory
- dark kitchen
- dark l
- dark-lantern
- dark lantern
- dark lanthorn
- dark-lanthorn
- dark life
- dark light
- darkling
- darkly
- dark magic
- dark market
- dark matter
- dark meat
- dark mode
- dark money
- dark nebula
- darknet
- dark night
- dark night of the soul
- dark pattern
- dark pool
- darkpsy
- dark reaction
- dark red
- dark ride
- darkroom
- dark sector
- dark-side
- darkside, dark side
- dark-skinned
- dark sleeper
- dark slide
- dark soliton
- darksome
- dark space
- dark star
- dark store
- dark territory
- dark thirty
- dark tourism
- dark tourist
- dark trading
- dark traffic
- dark triad
- dark vowel
- darkwave
- dark wave
- Dark Web, dark web
- endark
- every dark cloud has a silver lining
- Faraday dark space
- go dark
- Joan's as good as my lady in the dark
- non-baryonic dark matter
- o-dark-thirty
- oh dark hundred
- oh-dark-thirty
- pitch-dark
- pitch dark
- see the dark side of the moon
- semidark
- stab in the dark
- take a shot in the dark
- the darkest hour is just before the dawn
- warm dark matter
- wine-dark
- zero dark thirty
Related terms
- darken
- darkling
- darkness
Translations
having an absolute or relative lack of light
|
without moral or spiritual light
|
not bright or light, deeper in hue
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
|
Etymology 2
From Middle English derk, derke, dirke, dyrke, from the adjective (see above), or possibly from an unrecorded Old English *dierce, *diercu (“dark, darkness”).
Noun
dark (usually uncountable, plural darks)
- A complete or (more often) partial absence of light.
- c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene i]:
- Here stood he in the dark, his sharp sword out.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 17, in The China Governess:
- The face which emerged was not reassuring. It was blunt and grey, the nose springing thick and flat from high on the frontal bone of the forehead, whilst his eyes were narrow slits of dark in a tight bandage of tissue. […].
- 2013 July 20, “Out of the gloom”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
- [Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.
- Dark surrounds us completely.
-
- (uncountable) Ignorance.
- We kept him in the dark.
- The lawyer was left in the dark as to why the jury was dismissed.
- c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene ii]:
- Look, what you do, you do it still i' th' dark.
- a. 1705, John Locke, “Of the Conduct of the Understanding”, in Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke: […], London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], published 1706, OCLC 6963663:
- Till we perceive it by our own understandings, we are as much in the dark, and as void of knowledge, as before.
- (uncountable) Nightfall.
- It was after dark before we got to playing baseball.
- A dark shade or dark passage in a painting, engraving, etc.
- 1695, C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, John Dryden, transl., De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, […], London: […] J[ohn] Heptinstall for W. Rogers, […], OCLC 261121781:
- The lights may serve for a repose to the darks, and the darks to the lights.
-
Synonyms
- (absence of light): darkness
- (ignorance): cluelessness, knowledgelessness, unawareness
- (nightfall): crepusculum, evenfall, mirkning; see also Thesaurus:dusk
Derived terms
- after dark
- all cats are gray in the dark
- at dark
- before dark
- in the dark
- leap in the dark
- murder in the dark
- oh dark thirty
- shot in the dark
- whistle in the dark
Translations
a complete or partial absence of light
|
ignorance
|
nightfall
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
|
Etymology 3
From Middle English derken, from Old English deorcian, from Proto-West Germanic *derkōn.
Verb
dark (third-person singular simple present darks, present participle darking, simple past and past participle darked)
- (intransitive) To grow or become dark, darken.
- (intransitive) To remain in the dark, lurk, lie hidden or concealed.
- 1873, Richard Morris; Walter William Skeat, “Glossarial Index”, in Specimens of Early English, volume II: From Robert of Gloucester to Gower, A.D. 1298—A.D. 1393, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 490:
- To dark is still used in Swaledale (Yorkshire) in the sense of to lie hid, as, 'Te rattens [rats] mun ha bin darkin whel nu [till now]; we hannot heerd tem tis last fortnith'.
-
- (transitive) To make dark, darken; to obscure.
See also
- black
- shadow
Anagrams
- k-rad
Italian
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English dark.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈdark/[1]
- Rhymes: -ark
- Hyphenation: dàrk
Adjective
dark (invariable)
- dark (used especially to describe a form of punk music)
References
- dark in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)