darkly
Americanadverb
-
so as to appear dark.
-
vaguely; mysteriously.
-
in a vaguely threatening or menacing manner.
He hinted darkly that we had not heard the last of the matter.
-
imperfectly; faintly.
Etymology
Origin of darkly
before 1000; Middle English derkly, Old English deorclīce (in figurative sense only). See dark, -ly
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.
Its baroque, acoustic sounds of a pastoral countryside in ye olde England mesh disturbingly well with softly sung, darkly opaque lyrics.
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026
June’s new fiction releases include a darkly gothic novel, a totally charming novel and a novel filled with 1960s L.A. dread.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026
Cavalcanti’s, no less brilliant in its execution, looks through the glass darkly, with painful scenes of long-ago squalor and depravity that sadly echo our own.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026
I often joked darkly that I was a cat with only so many lives left.
From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026
In between, in the midst of all those steaming nights and days darkly colored, smelling of earth, I believe there lay some marrow of honest instruction.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
