darkness
Americannoun
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the state or quality of being dark.
The room was in total darkness.
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absence or deficiency of light.
the darkness of night.
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wickedness or evil.
Satan, the prince of darkness.
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obscurity; concealment.
The darkness of the metaphor destroyed its effectiveness.
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lack of knowledge or enlightenment.
heathen darkness.
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lack of sight; blindness.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of darkness
First recorded before 1050; Middle English derknesse, Old English deorcnysse; equivalent to dark + -ness
Explanation
The complete (or partial) absence of light is darkness. If you've ever lost power in your house during a nighttime storm, you know what it's like to be suddenly engulfed in darkness. There are degrees of darkness, from the complete darkness of the woods on a moonless night to the darkness of a room lit by candlelight. Darkness is open to interpretation, since it's defined as a lack of light. There's also a figurative darkness, which can represent wickedness, sadness, ignorance, or simply mystery: "The details of their adventures would remain in darkness, unless one of them wrote a book someday."
Vocabulary lists containing darkness
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.
Darkness engulfs me right before I step into a dream.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2026
Ozzy Osbourne has been honoured at this year's Mardi Gras in New Orleans, with more than 200 people parading through the streets dressed as the Prince of Darkness.
From BBC • Feb. 16, 2026
The frontman of rock band The Darkness visited a Herefordshire school to open a recording studio named after him.
From BBC • Feb. 1, 2026
Darkness clings to the sky as thousands of bikers zoom across a dusty alkaline flat in search of a sunrise set, hoping to outpace the gash of periwinkle light bleeding over the horizon.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 23, 2025
He thought of the shape of Darkness, its tall body that was flat like a shadow.
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
Definitions 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.
