darken
Americanverb (used with object)
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darkens,
present (3rd person singular)
-
darkened,
past participle, past
-
darkening
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
darkens,
present (3rd person singular)
-
darkened,
past participle, past
-
darkening
present participle
-
to become dark or darker.
-
to become obscure.
-
to become less white or clear in color.
-
to grow clouded, as with gloom or anger.
-
to become blind.
idioms
verb
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to make or become dark or darker
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to make or become gloomy, angry, or sad
his mood darkened
-
(usually used with a negative) to visit someone
never darken my door again!
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
darkensimple
-
darkenssimple
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have darkenedperfect
-
has darkenedperfect
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am darkeningprogressive
-
are darkeningprogressive
-
is darkeningprogressive
-
have been darkeningperfect progressive
-
has been darkeningperfect progressive
Past
-
darkenedsimple
-
had darkenedperfect
-
was darkeningprogressive
-
were darkeningprogressive
-
had been darkeningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of darken
First recorded in 1250–1300, darken is from the Middle English word derknen. See dark, -en 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But the bottom lines on the accounting ledgers darken the view considerably.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Scattered through old Southern community and church cookbooks are recipes for spiced Saltines: butter-soaked, herb-flecked, oven-baked until they darken to a toastier shade of gold.
From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2026
Both light sources darken skin through the same biological process: UV rays change the structure and chemical profile of DNA in the skin, which then produces more melanin in order to prevent further damage.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
"They also darken the layer by adding iron and carbon, making the regolith's properties more consistent with the observations."
From Science Daily ● May 5, 2026
Turner kept blinking, trying to darken the bright white.
From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt
What complicates and darkens the picture from Andromeda’s perspective is that a significant chunk of AI credit is concentrated in private markets.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
The expansion of plant life darkens the snow and ice, reducing its reflectivity and causing the surrounding area to warm up, triggering ice and snow melt.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
Hally’s mood darkens as soon as he learns from Sam that his mother is bringing his dad home from the hospital.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
Space weathering, caused by solar wind particles, micrometeorite impacts, and cosmic radiation, slowly darkens exposed material.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 8, 2026
Dusk softens the sharp points of trees outside my window; the sky slowly darkens, then blackens around an orb of moon.
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
Ortiz and six other spy-saboteurs, “their hands and faces already darkened by the unyielding sun, donned gandouras and turbans—what the famed T.E. Lawrence dubbed ‘Arab kit’—mounted a string of camels and rode south.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
Those summer clouds that had darkened the atmosphere among fans had lingered into the start of this Nations League campaign.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
He stumbled out of bed in his underwear and down the hall to his darkened living room.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
Even so, parts of northern Sputnik Planitia have been darkened in patterns that resemble features seen on terrestrial glaciers after they are exposed to rainwater or to liquid emerging from beneath the ice.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026
Velia asked as she got up and went to peer through the open door into the darkened kitchen.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
On Tuesday, the IMF will unveil its global economic forecast, along with detailed regional outlooks through the week, as policymakers set about tackling the challenges darkening the economic horizon.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
Schaeffler shares dropped sharply after the auto supplier slashed its sales expectations for the medium term amid a darkening backdrop for the industry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
They also compared tree pollen with fern spores to determine whether the darkening might have been caused by biological differences between plant groups.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
When he first noticed the sky darkening, Chapman thought a storm was coming.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
Except for the dull, grayed light coming through the plasticized window and the walls of my room darkening to a deeper shade of blue, nothing seemed any different.
From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
