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Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
dark (adjective)
1.
a) devoid or partially devoid of light not receiving, reflecting, transmitting, or radiating light - a dark room
b) transmitting only a portion of light - dark glasses
2.
a) wholly or partially black - dark clothing
b) of a color of low or very low lightness
c) being less light in color than other substances of the same kind - dark rum
3.
a) arising from or showing evil traits or desires - evil the dark powers that lead to war
b) - dismal gloomy had a dark view of the future
c) lacking knowledge or culture - unenlightened a dark period in history
d) relating to grim or depressing circumstances - dark humor
4.
a) not clear to the understanding
b) not known or explored because of remoteness - the darkest reaches of the continent
5.
not fair in complexion - swarthy
6.
- secret kept his plans dark
7.
possessing depth and richness - a dark voice
8.
closed to the public - the theater is dark in the summer obscure
dark (noun)
1.
a) a place or time of little or no light - night nightfall
b) absence of light - darkness
2.
a dark or deep color
dark (verb)
intransitive verb
transitive verb
obsolete to grow dark to make dark
Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus
dark (adjective)
1.
being without light or without much light
SYNONIMS:
black, caliginous, darkened, darkish, darkling, darksome, dim, dimmed, dusk, dusky, gloomy, lightless, murky, obscure, obscured, pitch-black, pitch-dark, pitchy, rayless, somber ( sombre), stygian, tenebrific, tenebrous, unlit
RELATED WORDS:
crepuscular, twilit; moonless, starless, sunless; cloudy, dull, dulled, lackluster; shadowlike, shadowy, shady; gray ( grey), leaden, pale; beclouded, befogged, clouded, foggy, fuliginous, misty, smoggy, soupy
NEAR ANTONYMS:
ablaze, agleam, aglitter, alight, beaming, beamy, effulgent, glaring, glowing, incandescent, lambent, radiant, relucent, resplendent, shining, sparkling; ultrabright; glossy, lustrous, shiny; floodlit ( floodlighted), highlighted, spotlighted ( spotlit); moonlit, moony, starlit, sunlit
bright, brightened, brilliant, illuminated, illumined, light, lit ( lighted), lightsome, lucent, lucid, luminous
dark (adjective)
2.
not having a light complexion
SYNONIMS:
black, brunet ( brunette), swart, swarthy
NEAR ANTONYMS:
ashen, ashy, pale, palish, pallid, pasty, peaked, peaky, sallow, wan
light
dark (adjective)
3.
causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer
SYNONIMS:
black, bleak, cheerless, chill, Cimmerian, cloudy, cold, comfortless, dark, darkening, depressing, depressive, desolate, dire, disconsolate, dismal, drear, dreary, dreich, elegiac ( elegiacal), forlorn, funereal, glum, godforsaken, gray ( grey), lonely, lonesome, lugubrious, miserable, morbid, morose, murky, plutonian, saturnine, sepulchral, solemn, somber ( sombre), sullen, sunless, tenebrific, tenebrous, wretched
RELATED WORDS:
blue, dejected, depressed, despondent, disconsolate, down, droopy, hangdog, inconsolable, low, melancholic, melancholy, mirthless, sad, unhappy, woebegone, woeful; dim, discomfiting, discouraging, disheartening, dismaying, dispiriting, distressful, distressing, upsetting; desperate, hopeless, pessimistic; lamentable, mournful, plaintive, sorrowful; colorless, drab, dull; dour, grim, lowering ( louring), lowery ( loury), menacing, negative, oppressive, threatening
NEAR ANTONYMS:
blithe, blithesome, buoyant, gay, jocund, jolly, joyful, joyous, merry, mirthful; encouraging, hopeful, optimistic; lighthearted, lightsome
bright, cheerful, cheering, cheery, comforting, cordial, festive, friendly, gay, heartwarming, sunshiny
dark (adjective)
4.
given to keeping one's activities hidden from public observation or knowledge
SYNONIMS:
close, closemouthed, dark, reticent, tight-mouthed, uncommunicative
RELATED WORDS:
quiet, reserved, silent, taciturn, tight-lipped; discreet, prudent; clandestine, covert, furtive, hugger-mugger, secret, sneak, sneaky, stealthy, surreptitious, undercover, underhand, underhanded
NEAR ANTONYMS:
candid, frank, honest, out-front, up-front; blunt, outspoken, tactless
communicative, open
dark (adjective)
5.
having an often intentionally veiled or uncertain meaning
SYNONIMS:
ambiguous, arcane, cryptic, dark, deep, Delphic, double-edged, elliptical ( elliptic), enigmatic ( enigmatical), equivocal, fuliginous, inscrutable, murky, mysterious, mystic, nebulous, occult, opaque
RELATED WORDS:
abstruse, esoteric, recondite; cloaked, concealed, disguised, masked, shrouded; beclouded, bedimmed, befogged, clouded, cloudy, dim, faint, foggy, fuzzy, hazy, indistinct, indistinguishable, misty, muddy, obfuscatory, obnubilated, obscurant ( obscurantic), shaded, shadowlike, shadowy, sphinxlike; indefinite, inexact, inexplicit, noncommittal, questionable, unclear, uncertain, undefined, undetermined, vague; impenetrable, incomprehensible, indecipherable, inexplicable; eerie ( eery), uncanny, weird; impalpable, inappreciable, intangible, invisible; unanswerable, unknowable; baffling, bewildering, confounding, confusing, mystifying, perplexing, puzzling, unfathomable; circuitous, indirect, roundabout; complex, complicated, difficult, obtuse
NEAR ANTONYMS:
comprehensible, fathomable, intelligible, knowable, legible, pellucid, understandable; bright, distinct, evident, self-evident, self-explanatory; certain, firm, strong, sure; defined, determined; direct, straightforward; definite, exact, explicit; appreciable, palpable, tangible, visible; blatant, patent, unmistakable
accessible, clear, nonambiguous, obvious, plain, unambiguous, unequivocal
dark (adjective)
6.
lacking in education or the knowledge gained from books
SYNONIMS:
analphabetic, benighted, dark, illiterate, nonliterate, rude, simple, uneducated, uninstructed, unlearned, unlettered, unread, unschooled, untaught, untutored
RELATED WORDS:
functionally illiterate, innumerate, semiliterate, unknowledgeable; artless, lowbrow, philistine, uncultivated, uncultured; callow, green, inexperienced, innocent, naive ( naïve); unsophisticated; raw, unskilled, untrained; brainless, dumb, idiotic ( idiotical), imbecile ( imbecilic), moronic, stupid, witless; foolish, senseless, silly
NEAR ANTONYMS:
brilliant, intelligent, smart; experienced, expert, trained; erudite, learned, polyhistoric, polymath ( polymathic), scholarly; cultivated, cultured, highbrow, intellectual; sophisticated; acquainted, aware, familiar
educated, knowledgeable, lettered, literate, schooled, well-informed, well-read
dark (adjective)
7.
not conforming to a high moral standard; morally unacceptable
SYNONIMS:
black, dark, evil, immoral, iniquitous, nefarious, rotten, sinful, unethical, unlawful, unrighteous, unsavory, vicious, vile, villainous, wicked, wrong
RELATED WORDS:
base, contemptible, despicable, dirty, disreputable, evil-minded, ignoble, ill, infernal, low, mean, snide, sordid; atrocious, cruel, infamous, nasty; blamable, blameworthy, censurable, objectionable, obscene, offensive, reprehensible; corrupt, debased, debauched, degenerate, depraved, dissolute, libertine, loose, low-minded, perverted, reprobate, scrofulous, sick, unhealthy; cursed ( curst), cussed, defiling, noxious, pernicious, pestilential, ugly, ungodly, unwholesome; banned, barred, condemned, discouraged, forbidden, illegal, interdicted, outlawed, prohibited, proscribed, unauthorized, unclean; disallowed; execrable, lousy, miserable, wretched; errant, erring, fallen, unprincipled, unscrupulous; improper, incorrect, indecent, indecorous, naughty, unbecoming, unseemly, vulgar; dishonest, dishonorable
NEAR ANTONYMS:
elevated, high, high-minded, law-abiding, legitimate, lofty, noble, principled, reputable, scrupulous; allowed, authorized, legal, licensed, permissible, permitted; approved, endorsed ( indorsed), sanctioned; abetted, encouraged, promoted, supported; clean, correct, decent, decorous, exemplary, proper, seemly; blameless, commendable, creditable, guiltless, legitimate; chaste, immaculate, incorruptible, innocent, inoffensive, irreproachable, lily-white, perfect, pure, spotless, squeaky-clean, uncorrupted, unerring, unfallen, unobjectionable, venerable, white, wholesome; esteemed, respected, upstanding, worthy
decent, ethical, good, honest, honorable, just, moral, right, righteous, sublime, upright, virtuous
dark (noun)
1.
a time or place of little or no light
SYNONIMS:
black, blackness, candlelight, darkness, dusk, gloaming, gloom, murk, night, semidarkness, shade, shadows, twilight, umbra
RELATED WORDS:
midnight; blackout, brownout, dimout; shadiness, umbrage; dullness ( dulness), somberness; cloudiness, fogginess, haziness, mistiness, murkiness; dimness, faintness, gloominess, grayness, paleness; half-light
NEAR ANTONYMS:
moonlight, starlight, sunlight; effulgence, radiance, radiancy, shine, sunshine; incandescence, luminance, luminescence, luminosity, luminousness
blaze, brightness, brilliance, day, daylight, glare, glow, light, lightness
dark (noun)
2.
the time from sunset to sunrise when there is no visible sunlight
SYNONIMS:
dark, darkness, nighttime
RELATED WORDS:
dusk, evening, gloaming, nightfall, twilight; midnight
NEAR ANTONYMS:
dawn, daybreak, sunrise, sunup; forenoon, morning; high noon, midday, noon, noonday, noontide, noontime; afternoon
day, daytime

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