Synonyms of darkening

darkening 1 of 2

adjective

as in dark

causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer

a darkening sky that seemed to match our downcast spirits

Synonyms & Similar Words

• dark
• bleak
• somber
• depressing
• depressive
• lonely
• desolate
• gray
• grey
• murky
• solemn
• blue
• cold
• black
• lonesome
• morbid
• chill
• miserable
• gloomy
• sombre
• depressed
• sullen
• dismal
• wretched
• cloudy
• cheerless
• funereal
• disconsolate
• dreary
• sad
• lugubrious
• saturnine
• oppressive
• dire
• melancholy
• drear
• morose
• elegiac
• sepulchral
• forlorn
• glum
• comfortless
• sunless
• tenebrous
• elegiacal
• Cimmerian
• godforsaken
• dim
• dreich
• dull
• unhappy
• negative
• plutonian
• tenebrific
• desperate
• distressing
• discouraging
• melancholic
• mournful
• low
• down
• grim
• menacing
• hopeless
• woebegone
• upsetting
• dejected
• distressful
• woeful
• discomfiting
• droopy
• hangdog
• dismaying
• inconsolable
• mirthless
• dispiriting
• despondent
• pessimistic
• sorrowful
• disheartening
• drab
• lowering
• threatening
• lamentable
• plaintive
• colorless
• dour
• louring
• lowery
• loury

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• bright
• friendly
• cheerful
• comforting
• festive
• cheery
• gay
• sunshiny
• cordial
• joyous
• merry
• joyful
• buoyant
• gay
• jolly
• blithe
• mirthful
• encouraging
• optimistic
• hopeful
• cheering
• blithesome
• heartwarming
• jocund
• lighthearted
• lightsome

darkening

2 of 2

verb

present participle of darken

1

as in frowning

to take on a gloomy or forbidding look

his face slowly darkened as we told him the sad news

Synonyms & Similar Words

• frowning
• staring
• scowling
• glowering
• lowering
• raging
• glooming
• brooding
• louring
• pouting
• glaring
• steaming
• angering
• threatening
• sulking
• bristling
• moping
• storming
• intimidating
• petting
• fuming
• menacing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• brightening
• lightening
• cheering (up)
• perking (up)

2

as in fading

to grow dark

the sky darkened as a storm moved in

Synonyms & Similar Words

• fading
• blackening
• dimming
• dusking
• closing in
• waning
• blacking out
• glooming
• lowering
• louring

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• lighting
• shining
• brightening
• lightening
• glowing
• dawning
• radiating
• beaming

3

as in obscuring

to make dark, dim, or indistinct

years of accumulated grime have darkened the painting until it can barely be seen

Synonyms & Similar Words

• obscuring
• blurring
• blackening
• clouding
• dimming
• overshadowing
• shrouding
• shadowing
• overcasting
• fogging
• misting
• hazing
• beclouding
• shading
• concealing
• hiding
• blearing
• befogging
• dislimning
• overclouding
• covering
• obliterating
• eclipsing
• bedimming
• fuzzing (up)
• masking
• adumbrating
• screening
• camouflaging
• blotting out
• curtaining
• veiling
• disguising
• cloaking

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• brightening
• lightening
• illuminating
• lighting (up)
• revealing
• exposing
• illumining
• uncovering
• unveiling

4

as in marring

to affect slightly with something morally bad or undesirable

the scandal darkened his otherwise sterling reputation

Synonyms & Similar Words

• marring
• staining
• spoiling
• tainting
• poisoning
• touching
• tarnishing
• blackening
• lowering
• vitiating
• distorting
• degrading
• smearing
• blurring
• blemishing
• discrediting
• corrupting
• clouding
• discoloring
• polluting
• soiling
• smudging
• dirtying
• sullying
• besmirching
• disgracing
• sinking
• shaming
• tarring
• debasing
• perverting
• twisting
• subverting
• dishonoring
• debauching
• cheapening
• coloring
• besmearing
• fouling
• smutting
• demeaning
• smirching
• abasing
• demoralizing
• begriming
• depraving
• bastardizing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• cleansing
• purifying
• elevating
• magnifying
• uplifting
• glorifying
• ennobling
• hallowing
• enshrining
• dignifying