Dark Definition
därk
darkest, darker
adjective
darkest, darker
Entirely or partly without light.
Webster's New World
Neither giving nor receiving light.
Webster's New World
Lacking brightness.
A dark day.
American Heritage
Reflecting only a small fraction of incident light; tending toward black.
Dark clothing.
American Heritage
Served without milk or cream.
Dark coffee.
American Heritage
Synonyms:
noun
The state of being dark.
Webster's New World
Absence of light.
American Heritage
A place having little or no light.
American Heritage
Night; nightfall.
Webster's New World
A dark color or shade.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
verb
To darken.
Webster's New World
idiom
in the dark
- In secret:
high-level decisions made in the dark.
- In a state of ignorance; uninformed:
kept me in the dark about their plans.
American Heritage
in the dark
- in a place with no light
- uninformed; ignorant
Webster's New World
keep dark
- to keep secret or hidden
Webster's New World
Other Word Forms of Dark
Noun
Singular:
darkPlural:
darksAdjective
Base Form:
dark
Comparative:
darkerSuperlative:
darkestIdioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Dark
- in the dark
- in the dark
- keep dark
Origin of Dark
-
From Middle English derk, from Old English deorc (“dark, obscure, gloomy, without light, dreadful, horrible, sad, cheerless, sinister, wicked”), from Proto-Germanic *derkaz (“dark”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰerg- (“dim, dull”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- (“dull, dirty”). Cognate with Middle High German derken, terken (“to darken, sully”), Albanian terr (“darkness”) and Persian تاريك (tārīk, “dark”).
From Wiktionary
Middle English derk from Old English deorc
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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