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dark

adjective

Synonyms and Antonyms of dark

1 being without light or without much light

  • a dark alley that most people wisely avoided
Synonyms of dark

black, caliginous, darkened, darkish, darkling, darksome, dim, dimmed, dusk, dusky, gloomy, lightless, murky, obscure, obscured, pitch-black, pitch-dark, pitchy, rayless, somber (or sombre), stygian, tenebrific, tenebrous, unlit
Words Related to dark

crepuscular, twilit

moonless, starless, sunless

cloudy, dull, dulled, lackluster

shadowlike, shadowy, shady

gray (also grey), leaden, pale

beclouded, befogged, clouded, foggy, fuliginous, misty, smoggy, soupy
Near Antonyms of dark

ablaze, agleam, aglitter, alight, beaming, beamy, effulgent, glaring, glowing, incandescent, lambent, radiant, relucent, resplendent, shining, sparkling

ultrabright

glossy, lustrous, shiny

floodlit (also floodlighted), highlighted, spotlighted (or spotlit)

moonlit, moony, starlit, sunlit
Antonyms of dark

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

2 not having a light complexion

  • he was tall, dark, and handsome
Synonyms of dark

black, brunet (or brunette), swart, swarthy
Near Antonyms of dark

ashen, ashy, pale, palish, pallid, pasty, peaked, peaky, sallow, wan
Antonyms of dark

light

3 causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer

  • her mind was filled with dark thoughts until the results of the medical test came back as negative
Synonyms of dark

black, bleak, cheerless, chill, Cimmerian, cloudy, cold, comfortless, darkening, depressing, depressive, desolate, dire, disconsolate, dismal, drear, dreary, dreich [chiefly Scottish], elegiac (also elegiacal), forlorn, funereal, gloomy, glum, godforsaken, gray (also grey), lonely, lonesome, lugubrious, miserable, morbid, morose, murky, plutonian, saturnine, sepulchral, solemn, somber (or sombre), sullen, sunless, tenebrific, tenebrous, wretched
Words Related to dark

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 (also louring), lowery (also loury), menacing, negative, oppressive, threatening
Near Antonyms of dark

blithe, blithesome, buoyant, gay, jocund, jolly, joyful, joyous, merry, mirthful

encouraging, hopeful, optimistic

lighthearted, lightsome
Antonyms of dark

bright, cheerful, cheering, cheery, comforting, cordial, festive, friendly, gay, heartwarming, sunshiny

4 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
Synonyms of dark

close, closemouthed, reticent, secretive, tight-mouthed, uncommunicative
Words Related to dark

quiet, reserved, silent, taciturn, tight-lipped

discreet, prudent

clandestine, covert, furtive, hugger-mugger, secret, sneak, sneaky, stealthy, surreptitious, undercover, underhand, underhanded
Near Antonyms of dark

candid, frank, honest, out-front, up-front

blunt, outspoken, tactless
Antonyms of dark

communicative, open

5 having an often intentionally veiled or uncertain meaning

  • the superhero was not daunted by the villain's dark threats
Synonyms of dark

ambiguous, arcane, cryptic, deep, Delphic, double-edged, elliptical (or elliptic), enigmatic (also enigmatical), equivocal, fuliginous, inscrutable, murky, mysterious, mystic, nebulous, obscure, occult, opaque
Words Related to dark

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 (or obscurantic), shaded, shadowlike, shadowy, sphinxlike

indefinite, inexact, inexplicit, noncommittal, questionable, unclear, uncertain, undefined, undetermined, vague

impenetrable, incomprehensible, indecipherable, inexplicable

eerie (also 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 of dark

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
Antonyms of dark

accessible, clear, nonambiguous, obvious, plain, unambiguous, unequivocal

6 lacking in education or the knowledge gained from books

  • is known as a dark period in European history when people lived in ignorance, fear, and want
Synonyms of dark

analphabetic, benighted, ignorant, illiterate, nonliterate, rude, simple, uneducated, uninstructed, unlearned, unlettered, unread, unschooled, untaught, untutored
Words Related to dark

functionally illiterate, innumerate, semiliterate, unknowledgeable

artless, lowbrow, philistine, uncultivated, uncultured

callow, green, inexperienced, innocent, naive (or naïve)

unsophisticated

raw, unskilled, untrained

brainless, dumb, idiotic (also idiotical), imbecile (or imbecilic), moronic, stupid, witless

foolish, senseless, silly
Near Antonyms of dark

brilliant, intelligent, smart

experienced, expert, trained

erudite, learned, polyhistoric, polymath (or polymathic), scholarly

cultivated, cultured, highbrow, intellectual

sophisticated

acquainted, aware, familiar
Antonyms of dark

educated, knowledgeable, lettered, literate, schooled, well-informed, well-read

7 not conforming to a high moral standard; morally unacceptable

  • dark deeds that resulted in the Russian czar being known to history as Ivan the Terrible
Synonyms of dark

bad, black, evil, immoral, iniquitous, nefarious, rotten, sinful, unethical, unlawful, unrighteous, unsavory, vicious, vile, villainous, wicked, wrong
Words Related to dark

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 (also 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 of dark

elevated, high, high-minded, law-abiding, legitimate, lofty, noble, principled, reputable, scrupulous

allowed, authorized, legal, licensed, permissible, permitted

approved, endorsed (also 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
Antonyms of dark

decent, ethical, good, honest, honorable, just, moral, right, righteous, sublime, upright, virtuous

Synonym Discussion of dark

obscure, dark, vague, enigmatic, cryptic, ambiguous, equivocal mean not clearly understandable. obscure implies a hiding or veiling of meaning through some inadequacy of expression or withholding of full knowledge.
    • obscure poems
dark implies an imperfect or clouded revelation often with ominous or sinister suggestion.
    • muttered dark hints of revenge
vague implies a lack of clear formulation due to inadequate conception or consideration.
    • a vague sense of obligation
enigmatic stresses a puzzling, mystifying quality.
    • enigmatic occult writings
cryptic implies a purposely concealed meaning.
    • cryptic hints of hidden treasure
ambiguous applies to language capable of more than one interpretation.
    • an ambiguous directive
equivocal applies to language left open to differing interpretations with the intention of deceiving or evading.
    • moral precepts with equivocal phrasing

dark

noun

Synonyms and Antonyms of dark

1 a time or place of little or no light

  • I have a bad habit of running into tables in the dark
Synonyms of dark

black, blackness, candlelight, darkness, dusk, gloaming, gloom, murk, night, semidarkness, shade, shadows, twilight, umbra
Words Related to dark

midnight

blackout, brownout, dimout

shadiness, umbrage

dullness (also dulness), somberness

cloudiness, fogginess, haziness, mistiness, murkiness

dimness, faintness, gloominess, grayness, paleness

half-light
Near Antonyms of dark

moonlight, starlight, sunlight

effulgence, radiance, radiancy, shine, sunshine

incandescence, luminance, luminescence, luminosity, luminousness
Antonyms of dark

blaze, brightness, brilliance, day, daylight, glare, glow, light, lightness

2 the time from sunset to sunrise when there is no visible sunlight

  • we were going to wait until dark to go trick-or-treating
Synonyms of dark

darkness, night, nighttime
Words Related to dark

dusk, evening, gloaming, nightfall, twilight

midnight
Near Antonyms of dark

dawn, daybreak, sunrise, sunup

forenoon, morning

high noon, midday, noon, noonday, noontide, noontime

afternoon
Antonyms of dark

day, daytime

Learn More about dark

  1. See words that rhyme with dark Dictionary: Definition of dark Spanish Central: Translation of dark Nglish: Translation of dark for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of dark for Arabic speakers

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