Entry Word: dark

Function: adjective

Meaning: 1 being without light or without much light <a dark alley that most people wisely avoided>

Synonyms darkened, darkish, darkling, darksome, dim, dimmed, dusky, gloomy, murky, obscure, obscured, pitch-black, pitch-dark, somber (or sombre)

Related Words moonless, sunless; cloudy, dull, dulled, lackluster; shadowy, shady; gray (also grey), leaden, pale

Near Antonyms beaming, effulgent, glowing, lambent, radiant, shining; glossy, lustrous, shiny

Antonyms bright, brightened, brilliant, illuminated, illumined, light, lighted (or lit), lucent, lucid, luminous

2 causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer <her mind was filled with dark thoughts as she waited for the results of the medical test> — see gloomy 1
3 given to keeping one's activities hidden from public observation or knowledge <the actor was always quite dark about his life before his arrival in Hollywood> — see secretive
4 having an often intentionally veiled or uncertain meaning <a troubled kid who was always muttering dark threats that someday theyʼd all be sorry> — see obscure 1
5 lacking in education or the knowledge gained from books <a dark period in European history when people lived in ignorance, fear, and want> — see ignorant 1