dark synonyms

dark

modif.

  1. Lacking brightness

    unlighted, unlit, dim, dusky, murky, gloomy, shadowy, somber, cloudy, foggy, sunless, lightless, indistinct, dull, faint, vague, misty, darkish, deep, drab, dingy, obscure, nebulous, shady, shaded, clouded, darkened, overcast, lowering, Cimmerian, opaque, crepuscular, Stygian, without light, tenebrous, bereft of light, ill-lighted, inky, pitch-dark, black, darkling*, darksome*, pitchy*; see also black 1, dull 2, hazy 1.

    Antonyms bright*, light*, illuminated. *

  2. Dismal

    gloomy, hopeless, cheerless, sullen; see dismal 1, sullen.

  3. Not known

    cryptic, hidden, mysterious; see obscure 3, secret 1.

  4. Lacking light for the future

    sinister, foreboding, unpropitious; see ominous.

  5. Dark in complexion

    brunet, brunette, swarthy, tan, black, Negro, Negroid, dusky, sable, dark-skinned, dark-haired, dark-complexioned, nonwhite, colored, Indian, melanous; see also African 2, black 3.

  6. Ignorant

    unenlightened, unread, uncultivated; see ignorant 2.

  7. Evil

    sinister, iniquitous, immoral, corrupt; see wicked 1.

dark, the general word in this comparison, denotes a partial or complete absence of light a dark night; dim implies so little light that objects can be seen only indistinctly dim shapes in the shadows, the dim light of the moon; dusky suggests the grayish, shadowy light of twilight a dusky winter evening; murky now usually suggests the thick, heavy darkness of fog or smoke-filled air the murky ruins of a temple; gloomy suggests a cloudy, cheerless darkness a gloomy forest

dark

n.

  1. Darkness

    gloom, murk, duskiness; see darkness 1.

  2. Night

    nighttime, nightfall, evening; see night 1.

in the dark

uninformed, in ignorance, unaware, naive; see ignorant 1.

keep dark

conceal, keep secret, obscure; see hide 1.

Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.