definitions

RELATED WORDS

dim, misty, murky, shadowy, overcast, somber, cloudy, dingy, gloomy, black, drab, foggy, dull, darkened, tan, mysterious, deep, sinister, ominous, bleak

Nearby words

dariole, darius i, darius ii, darius iii, darjeeling, dark, dark adaptation, dark ages, dark chocolate, dark cloud, dark comedy

Idioms

    in the dark,
    1. in ignorance; uninformed: He was in the dark about their plans for the evening.
    2. in secrecy; concealed; obscure.
    keep dark, to keep as a secret; conceal: They kept their political activities dark.

Origin of dark

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

non·dark, adjectivepre·dark, adjective

Synonym study

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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for darkest

British Dictionary definitions for darkest

dark

/ (dɑːk) /

adjective

noun

verb

an archaic word for darken

Derived Forms

darkish, adjectivedarkly, adverbdarkness, noun

Word Origin for dark

Old English deorc; related to Old High German terchennen to hide
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Idioms and Phrases with darkest

dark

In addition to the idioms beginning with dark

  • darken someone's door
  • dark horse

also see:

  • in the dark
  • keep someone in the dark
  • leap in the dark
  • shot in the dark
  • whistle in the dark
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.