Synonyms for dark
dɑrkdark

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. darkadjective

   Synonyms:
   secret, sinister, hidden

2. darkadjective

   Synonyms:
   malign, sinister

3. darkadjective

   Synonyms:
   deep

   Antonyms:
   pale, light, bright

4. darkadjective

   Having an absolute or (more often) relative lack of light.

   The room was too dark for reading.

   Synonyms:
   gloomy, dim

   Antonyms:
   lit, light, bright

5. darkadjective

   Conducive to hopelessness; depressing or bleak

   The Great Depression was a dark time.

   Synonyms:
   negative, pessimistic, hopeless

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. dark

   Strictly, that which is black is absolutely destitute of color; that which is dark is absolutely destitute of light. In common speech, however, a coat is black, tho not optically colorless; the night is dark, tho the stars shine. That is obscure, shadowy, or shady from which the light is more or less cut off. Dusky is applied to objects which appear as if viewed in fading light; the word is often used, as are swart and swarthy, of the human skin when quite dark, or even verging toward black. Dim refers to imperfection of outline, from distance, darkness, mist, etc., or from some defect of vision. Opaque objects, as smoked glass, are impervious to light. Murky is said of that which is at once dark, obscure, and gloomy; as, a murky den; a murky sky. Figuratively, dark is emblematic of sadness, agreeing with somber, dismal, gloomy, also of moral evil; as, a dark deed. Of intellectual matters, dark is now rarely used in the old sense of a dark saying, etc. See MYSTERIOUS; OBSCURE.

   Compare synonyms for LIGHT.

   Synonyms:
   black, dim, dismal, dusky, gloomy, murky, mysterious, obscure, opaque, sable, shadowy, shady, somber, swart, swarthy

   Antonyms:
   bright, brilliant, clear, crystalline, dazzling, gleaming, glowing, illumined, light, lucid, luminous, radiant, shining, transparent, white

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. dark

   Synonyms:
   black, dusky, sable, swarthy, opaque, obscure, enigmatical, recondite, abstruse, unintelligible, blind, ignorant, besotted, benighted, dim, shadowy, inexplicable, secret, mysterious, hidden, murky, nebulous, cheerless, dismal, dim, gloomy, sombre, joyless, mournful, sorrowful

   Antonyms:
   white, fair, light, radiant, bright, lucid, crystalline, transparent, brilliant, plain, intelligible, enlightened, glaring, dazzling, illumined, festive, luminous

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. dark, darknessnoun

   absence of light or illumination

   Synonyms:
   duskiness, shadow, darkness, swarthiness, night, nighttime, wickedness, iniquity

   Antonyms:
   lighting, light, lit, white, candent, lighting-up(a), bioluminescent, fluorescent, good-natured, pastel, pale, livid, palish, sunstruck, cheerful, blond, floodlighted, candescent, floodlit, bright, good, enlightened, luminescent, blonde, lamplit, light-colored, light-haired, ablaze(p), lighted, active, well-lighted, incandescent, comprehensible, comprehendible, autofluorescent, reddened, unconcealed, sunlit, powdery, phosphorescent, inflamed, illuminated

2. iniquity, wickedness, darkness, darknoun

   absence of moral or spiritual values

   "the powers of darkness"

   Synonyms:
   swarthiness, immorality, shabbiness, sinfulness, lousiness, sin, ugliness, shadow, nighttime, iniquity, night, wickedness, evil, duskiness, unfairness, sliminess, repulsiveness, darkness, nefariousness, loathsomeness, vileness, injustice

   Antonyms:
   light, lighting, active, powdery, white, pastel, ablaze(p), blond, good-natured, blonde, good, floodlighted, well-lighted, cheerful, livid, comprehensible, enlightened, incandescent, comprehendible, reddened, luminescent, candent, phosphorescent, light-haired, inflamed, lighted, lit, autofluorescent, sunlit, illuminated, candescent, pale, light-colored, lamplit, floodlit, lighting-up(a), unconcealed, palish, bioluminescent, fluorescent, bright, sunstruck

3. darkness, dark, shadownoun

   an unilluminated area

   "he moved off into the darkness"

   Synonyms:
   nighttime, fantasm, shadower, night, phantom, shadow, iniquity, tincture, wickedness, trace, phantasm, vestige, darkness, swarthiness, tail, phantasma, duskiness, apparition

   Antonyms:
   lighting, light, comprehendible, good, bioluminescent, blonde, active, sunstruck, lamplit, pastel, sunlit, unconcealed, inflamed, powdery, lighted, fluorescent, cheerful, light-colored, pale, illuminated, lit, comprehensible, candescent, floodlighted, palish, lighting-up(a), incandescent, livid, luminescent, candent, white, light-haired, ablaze(p), enlightened, well-lighted, blond, bright, reddened, autofluorescent, floodlit, phosphorescent, good-natured

4. night, nighttime, darknoun

   the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside

   Synonyms:
   wickedness, nighttime, darkness, iniquity, night, shadow

   Antonyms:
   light, lighting, livid, candent, light-colored, reddened, floodlit, autofluorescent, light-haired, palish, bright, powdery, ablaze(p), sunlit, blonde, well-lighted, bioluminescent, comprehensible, comprehendible, cheerful, floodlighted, lighting-up(a), illuminated, lit, active, fluorescent, lighted, incandescent, white, inflamed, unconcealed, blond, good, luminescent, pale, sunstruck, enlightened, lamplit, candescent, phosphorescent, good-natured, pastel

5. dark, darknessadjective

   an unenlightened state

   "he was in the dark concerning their intentions"; "his lectures dispelled the darkness"

   Synonyms:
   duskiness, shadow, darkness, swarthiness, night, nighttime, wickedness, iniquity

   Antonyms:
   lighting, light, lamplit, cheerful, comprehensible, floodlit, powdery, white, phosphorescent, bright, active, lighting-up(a), floodlighted, light-colored, light-haired, well-lighted, bioluminescent, pastel, unconcealed, palish, pale, comprehendible, enlightened, lit, autofluorescent, candent, incandescent, ablaze(p), good-natured, blonde, fluorescent, blond, reddened, sunstruck, candescent, lighted, sunlit, good, luminescent, illuminated, livid, inflamed

6. darkadjective

   devoid of or deficient in light or brightness; shadowed or black

   "sitting in a dark corner"; "a dark day"; "dark shadows"; "dark as the inside of a black cat"

   Synonyms:
   dreary, non-white, saturnine, sullen, dingy, drear, grim, sour, coloured, gloomy, morose, black, dismal, sinister, moody, drab, dark-skinned, benighted, dour, obscure, blue, glum, glowering, sorry, disconsolate

   Antonyms:
   lighting, light, white, palish, inflamed, comprehendible, blond, lamplit, good-natured, floodlighted, candent, pale, unconcealed, lit, blonde, pastel, reddened, luminescent, autofluorescent, sunstruck, incandescent, lighting-up(a), comprehensible, good, bright, powdery, ablaze(p), cheerful, well-lighted, lighted, enlightened, floodlit, light-haired, fluorescent, active, illuminated, phosphorescent, livid, candescent, light-colored, bioluminescent, sunlit

7. darkadjective

   (used of color) having a dark hue

   "dark green"; "dark glasses"; "dark colors like wine red or navy blue"

   Synonyms:
   dreary, non-white, saturnine, sullen, dingy, drear, grim, sour, coloured, gloomy, morose, black, dismal, sinister, moody, drab, dark-skinned, benighted, dour, obscure, blue, glum, glowering, sorry, disconsolate

   Antonyms:
   lighting, light, active, good-natured, inflamed, blond, blonde, pastel, comprehensible, powdery, pale, white, good, candescent, bioluminescent, phosphorescent, incandescent, lamplit, fluorescent, floodlighted, candent, bright, ablaze(p), sunstruck, lit, floodlit, lighted, well-lighted, luminescent, lighting-up(a), sunlit, light-colored, livid, illuminated, enlightened, reddened, unconcealed, autofluorescent, palish, light-haired, cheerful, comprehendible

8. darkadjective

   brunet (used of hair or skin or eyes)

   "dark eyes"

   Synonyms:
   dreary, non-white, saturnine, sullen, dingy, drear, grim, sour, coloured, gloomy, morose, black, dismal, sinister, moody, drab, dark-skinned, benighted, dour, obscure, blue, glum, glowering, sorry, disconsolate

   Antonyms:
   lighting, light, good, comprehensible, autofluorescent, candent, palish, cheerful, enlightened, lit, blond, powdery, pastel, floodlighted, white, inflamed, good-natured, luminescent, lighting-up(a), floodlit, light-colored, lighted, unconcealed, comprehendible, well-lighted, phosphorescent, pale, sunlit, incandescent, sunstruck, bioluminescent, candescent, lamplit, livid, active, ablaze(p), blonde, reddened, light-haired, fluorescent, illuminated, bright

9. black, dark, sinisteradjective

   stemming from evil characteristics or forces; wicked or dishonorable

   "black deeds"; "a black lie"; "his black heart has concocted yet another black deed"; "Darth Vader of the dark side"; "a dark purpose"; "dark undercurrents of ethnic hostility"; "the scheme of some sinister intelligence bent on punishing him"-Thomas Hardy

   Synonyms:
   blackened, ominous, sullen, bootleg, black-market, disgraceful, calamitous, forbidding, dismal, moody, non-white, disconsolate, threatening, coloured, glum, fatal, dark-skinned, black, fateful, baleful, smuggled, inglorious, menacing, dim, pitch-dark, glowering, minatory, obscure, sour, pitch-black, grim, mordant, drab, benighted, contraband, shameful, saturnine, disastrous, smutty, ignominious, sorry, gloomy, morose, bleak, dingy, dreary, dour, drear, opprobrious, minacious, blue, sinister

   Antonyms:
   lighting, light, good-natured, sunlit, lighting-up(a), lighted, unconcealed, light-colored, cheerful, well-lighted, good, white, powdery, inflamed, lit, candescent, floodlit, ablaze(p), autofluorescent, bioluminescent, active, phosphorescent, candent, luminescent, floodlighted, livid, reddened, pastel, fluorescent, blond, blonde, enlightened, incandescent, pale, palish, bright, light-haired, comprehensible, lamplit, comprehendible, illuminated, sunstruck

10. darkadjective

    secret

    "keep it dark"

    Synonyms:
    dreary, non-white, saturnine, sullen, dingy, drear, grim, sour, coloured, gloomy, morose, black, dismal, sinister, moody, drab, dark-skinned, benighted, dour, obscure, blue, glum, glowering, sorry, disconsolate

    Antonyms:
    light, lighting, ablaze(p), autofluorescent, sunstruck, lamplit, white, cheerful, powdery, floodlit, pale, enlightened, fluorescent, pastel, palish, good-natured, comprehendible, good, lighting-up(a), blond, light-haired, sunlit, light-colored, candescent, comprehensible, well-lighted, candent, bright, reddened, lighted, lit, active, livid, phosphorescent, illuminated, inflamed, unconcealed, floodlighted, luminescent, bioluminescent, blonde, incandescent

11. dark, dour, glowering, glum, moody, morose, saturnine, sour, sullenadjective

    showing a brooding ill humor

    "a dark scowl"; "the proverbially dour New England Puritan"; "a glum, hopeless shrug"; "he sat in moody silence"; "a morose and unsociable manner"; "a saturnine, almost misanthropic young genius"- Bruce Bliven; "a sour temper"; "a sullen crowd"

    Synonyms:
    pertinacious, heavy, forbidding, glum, sullen, dogged, moody, non-white, temperamental, threatening, coloured, disconsolate, dark-skinned, black, gloomy, drear, benighted, off, blue, glowering, obscure, sour, sinister, turned, grim, saturnine, tenacious, off-key, dour, false, unyielding, sorry, drab, dingy, dreary, dismal, persistent, lowering, rancid, morose

    Antonyms:
    light, lighting, bioluminescent, ablaze(p), sunstruck, lighted, illuminated, powdery, livid, cheerful, candescent, sunlit, fluorescent, luminescent, blonde, lit, inflamed, white, palish, blond, good, pastel, floodlighted, unconcealed, enlightened, good-natured, comprehensible, reddened, active, floodlit, comprehendible, pale, candent, lighting-up(a), light-haired, bright, phosphorescent, autofluorescent, lamplit, light-colored, incandescent, well-lighted

12. benighted, darkadjective

    lacking enlightenment or knowledge or culture

    "this benighted country"; "benighted ages of barbarism and superstition"; "the dark ages"; "a dark age in the history of education"

    Synonyms:
    dreary, non-white, saturnine, sullen, dingy, drear, grim, sour, coloured, gloomy, morose, black, dismal, sinister, moody, drab, dark-skinned, benighted, dour, obscure, blue, glum, glowering, nighted, sorry, disconsolate

    Antonyms:
    light, lighting, fluorescent, well-lighted, white, phosphorescent, lighting-up(a), autofluorescent, pale, palish, floodlighted, ablaze(p), bioluminescent, candescent, cheerful, comprehendible, sunlit, powdery, bright, sunstruck, pastel, blonde, light-haired, lit, illuminated, good-natured, lighted, active, incandescent, lamplit, livid, floodlit, reddened, comprehensible, blond, candent, unconcealed, good, enlightened, luminescent, light-colored, inflamed

13. dark, obscureadjective

    marked by difficulty of style or expression

    "much that was dark is now quite clear to me"; "those who do not appreciate Kafka's work say his style is obscure"

    Synonyms:
    vague, sullen, unnoticeable, glum, dismal, moody, apart(p), coloured, disconsolate, dark-skinned, black, gloomy, benighted, non-white, blue, glowering, obscure, sour, unknown, sinister, grim, dour, hidden, saturnine, sorry, drab, dingy, isolated, dreary, drear, unsung, morose

    Antonyms:
    light, lighting, incandescent, unconcealed, pale, pastel, active, cheerful, blonde, well-lighted, lamplit, good-natured, inflamed, candescent, light-haired, bright, livid, powdery, autofluorescent, comprehendible, sunstruck, fluorescent, reddened, lit, enlightened, palish, light-colored, white, floodlit, comprehensible, good, luminescent, lighting-up(a), phosphorescent, blond, illuminated, bioluminescent, candent, lighted, sunlit, ablaze(p), floodlighted

14. blue, dark, dingy, disconsolate, dismal, gloomy, grim, sorry, drab, drear, drearyadjective

    causing dejection

    "a blue day"; "the dark days of the war"; "a week of rainy depressing weather"; "a disconsolate winter landscape"; "the first dismal dispiriting days of November"; "a dark gloomy day"; "grim rainy weather"

    Synonyms:
    black, blueish, non-white, gloomful, stern, unappeasable, ghastly, moody, forbidding, relentless, dingy, raunchy, bluish, mordant, sorry, risque, gruesome, depressed, dirty, gamey, down in the mouth, low, sinister, olive-drab, lamentable, muddied, unrelenting, sullen, juicy, sulky, bad, gloomy, meritless, low-spirited, saturnine, good-for-naught, dispirited, gamy, down(p), grisly, good-for-nothing, naughty, unconsolable, benighted, sad, muddy, sober, gentle, grubby, grungy, dark-skinned, aristocratic, inconsolable, racy, regretful, somber, spicy, blue-blooded, blue, puritanical, no-count, drear, macabre, disconsolate, no-account, dreary, grimy, coloured, inexorable, puritanic, aristocratical, no-good, deplorable, glowering, morose, pitiful, patrician, profane, blasphemous, sombre, drab, glum, unforgiving, glooming, sour, blue(a), downcast, downhearted, distressing, dour, obscure, sick, grim, dismal, begrimed

    Antonyms:
    light, lighting, inflamed, white, powdery, bright, lamplit, phosphorescent, pale, luminescent, good-natured, sunlit, pastel, autofluorescent, lighted, candescent, lit, blonde, blond, comprehendible, illuminated, reddened, unconcealed, candent, incandescent, fluorescent, livid, active, good, light-colored, palish, enlightened, sunstruck, lighting-up(a), comprehensible, cheerful, well-lighted, floodlighted, light-haired, floodlit, ablaze(p), bioluminescent

15. colored, coloured, dark, dark-skinned, non-whiteadjective

    having skin rich in melanin pigments

    "National Association for the Advancement of Colored People"; "dark-skinned peoples"

    Synonyms:
    biased, sullen, colorful, swart, glum, dismal, moody, non-white, coloured, disconsolate, dark-skinned, black, gloomy, benighted, blue, glowering, obscure, sour, sinister, dusky, grim, dingy, dour, saturnine, sorry, dyed, drab, slanted, swarthy, dreary, bleached, drear, one-sided, morose

    Antonyms:
    lighting, light, lighting-up(a), powdery, well-lighted, fluorescent, candent, pale, floodlighted, white, light-colored, candescent, blonde, blond, sunstruck, active, floodlit, phosphorescent, good, luminescent, cheerful, bright, livid, enlightened, sunlit, lamplit, unconcealed, light-haired, lighted, pastel, palish, autofluorescent, ablaze(p), comprehendible, good-natured, reddened, incandescent, illuminated, inflamed, bioluminescent, lit, comprehensible

16. darkadjective

    not giving performances; closed

    "the theater is dark on Mondays"

    Synonyms:
    dreary, non-white, saturnine, sullen, dingy, drear, grim, sour, coloured, gloomy, morose, black, dismal, sinister, moody, drab, dark-skinned, benighted, dour, obscure, blue, glum, glowering, sorry, disconsolate

    Antonyms:
    lighting, light, sunstruck, unconcealed, ablaze(p), bright, pastel, enlightened, white, livid, phosphorescent, active, candent, blond, lamplit, lighted, blonde, powdery, comprehensible, lit, incandescent, palish, floodlit, inflamed, pale, floodlighted, fluorescent, light-haired, candescent, luminescent, good-natured, good, cheerful, autofluorescent, light-colored, illuminated, comprehendible, well-lighted, lighting-up(a), reddened, sunlit, bioluminescent

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Editors ContributionRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. evenfall

   it is dark out at evenfall.

   Submitted by rinat on August 14, 2019  

2. melanochroic

   dark complexion is termed as melanochroic

   mafic rocks

   Submitted by gdalai on September 23, 2020  

3. melony

   melony [mel-ony] as a girls' name is a greek name, and the name melony means "black, dark". melony is an alternate form of melanie (greek). associated with greek, black.

   Submitted by rinat on September 10, 2019  

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. darkadjective

   Synonyms:
   unilluminated, unenlightened, dusky, shadowy, rayless, sunless, darksome, lurid, murky, cloudy, shady, overcast, black, ebon, cimmerian, not light, pitchy

2. darkadjective

   Synonyms:
   mysterious, obscure, incomprehensible, unintelligible, enigmatical, mystic, mystical, recondite, occult, transcendental, abstruse, cabalistic

3. darkadjective

   Synonyms:
   gloomy, disheartening, discouraging, cheerless, dismal

4. darkadjective

   Synonyms:
   untaught, ignorant, unlettered, rude

5. darkadjective

   Synonyms:
   wicked, atrocious, infamous, foul, vile, infernal

6. darknoun

   Synonyms:
   darkness, obscurity, want of light

7. darknoun

   Synonyms:
   ignorance, blindness, want of knowledge

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. darkadjective

   Synonyms:
   unilluminated, sunless, dusky, rayless, cimmerian, pitchy, tenebrific, murk, murky, dingy, shadowy, shady, mirky, lowering, overcast, gloomy, sullen, stygian, sombre, obscure, mysterious, incomprehensible, recondite abstruse, cabalistic, cryptic, enigmatical, occult, brunette, swart, swarthy

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "dark":

   darkness, black, darth, bleak, obscure, gloomy, nightfall, sombre, dark-coloured, dusky, grim, night, murky, noir, blackness, shadowy, obscurity, ignorance, negro, blacked-out, somber, brown, dismal, gloom, shady, unclear, darkened, sinister, dim, shadow, dusk

Suggested Resources

1. dark

   Song lyrics by dark -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by dark on the Lyrics.com website.

2. DARK

   What does DARK stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the DARK acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

How to pronounce dark?

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How to use dark in a sentence?

1. Vladimir Putin:

   That is delicious to me. If you're looking for a silver lining in the dark clouds of war, enjoy Zelenskyy -- the most unlikely guy in the most unlikely of circumstances -- he's not Winston Churchill, he didn't grow up doing this, yet in the most trying times in his country's history here he is stepping forward.

2. Rickie Fowler:

   Pretty cool to be able to do that for Ernie Els and the foundation, it's a small target. No one really expects it because it's kind of a shot in the dark.

3. Kevin Paffrath:

   CNN is trying to keep voters in the dark about our campaign to attempt to help Governor Newsom stay in power, newsom lied to us, overstating fire prevention by 690%, then just today we discover his administration tried to cover up their original statement.

4. Demetrius Anderson:

   It's scary, I'm scared. It's bleak, it's dark ; I can't imagine it. I don't think I could handle it considering what I'm going through.

5. Adele Clee:

   Life is like the weather - unpredictable. When it is dark and miserable, we must have hope. But when it is warm and sunny, we must rejoice. We must embrace it and trust that its memory will sustain us when the rain comes again.