dusk

¹

[duhsk]

adjective

1. tending to darkness; dark.

verb (used with or without object)

1. to make or become dusk; darken.

dusk

²

[duhsk]

noun

1. the state or period of partial darkness between day and night; the dark part of twilight.

2. partial darkness; shade; gloom.

   She was barely visible in the dusk of the room.

dusk

/ dʌsk /

noun

1. twilight or the darker part of twilight

2. poetic,  gloom; shade

adjective

1. poetic,  shady; gloomy

verb

1. poetic,  to make or become dark

Other Word Forms

• duskish adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dusk¹

before 1000; Middle English duske (adj.), dusken (v.); metathetic alteration of Old English dox dusky, doxian to turn dark; cognate with L. fuscus dark

Origin of dusk²

First recorded in 1615–25; back formation from dusky

Word History and Origins

Origin of dusk¹

Old English dox; related to Old Saxon dosan brown, Old High German tusin yellow, Norwegian dusmen misty, Latin fuscus dark brown

Example Sentences

From dawn to dusk he suffered like an animal in a trap, drank coffee, smoked, begged meals from the kitchen, and napped.

Read more on Literature

“There is no place more delightful than one’s own fireplace,” she read, and nodded in agreement, for the library had begun to get chilly now that afternoon was turning to dusk.

Read more on Literature

The shadows that crept along the forest floor grew long and melted into the dusk.

Read more on Literature

It is a pastoral place where drivers watch for Amish buggies at dusk and a Union soldier monument anchors the town square.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"We arrived back at the convent at dusk," she recalls.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• nightfall 
• sundown 
• sunset 
• twilight