darkness
Americannoun
-
the state or quality of being dark.
The room was in total darkness.
-
absence or deficiency of light.
the darkness of night.
-
wickedness or evil.
Satan, the prince of darkness.
-
obscurity; concealment.
The darkness of the metaphor destroyed its effectiveness.
-
lack of knowledge or enlightenment.
heathen darkness.
-
lack of sight; blindness.
Other Word Forms
- predarkness noun
Etymology
Origin of darkness
First recorded before 1050; Middle English derknesse, Old English deorcnysse; equivalent to dark + -ness
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.
The songs on Black British Music are vivid and evocative, finding light in the darkness but never quite shaking off an undercurrent of sadness.
From BBC
“But sometimes a blessing comes our way. And as we reach ourselves out of the darkness of loss, light can reach us.”
From Los Angeles Times
On Tuesday night, the owners were assisted by a friend using a thermal camera in an effort to detect the capybaras in the darkness.
From BBC
“The moment there is a suspected insider, it’s pointed out on X, and it’s visible on Polymarket immediately. So it’s not like it’s done in darkness,” Coplan told The Wall Street Journal.
In real fires, with darkness, smoke, people in various states of injury impeding one another, falls on stairs, counterflows and hesitation, theoretical egress capacities inferred from other evacuations break down.
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.
