dark

1 being without light or without much light a dark alley that most people wisely avoided Synonyms 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 Related Words 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 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 bright, brightened, brilliant, illuminated, illumined, light, lit (or lighted), lightsome, lucent, lucid, luminous

2 not having a light complexion because of her dark good looks, the actress was usually cast as sultry temptresses Synonyms black, brunet (or brunette), swart, swarthy Near Antonyms ashen, ashy, pale, palish, pallid, pasty, peaked, peaky, sallow, wan Antonyms light

3 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 Synonyms black, bleak, cheerless, chill, Cimmerian, cloudy, cold, comfortless, gloomy, darkening, depressing, depressive, desolate, dire, disconsolate, dismal, drear, dreary, dreich [chiefly Scottish], elegiac (also elegiacal), forlorn, funereal, glum, godforsaken, gray (also grey), lonely, lonesome, lugubrious, miserable, morbid, morose, murky, plutonian, saturnine, sepulchral, solemn, somber (or sombre), sullen, sunless, tenebrific, tenebrous, wretchedRelated Words 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, threateningNear Antonyms blithe, blithesome, buoyant, gay, jocund, jolly, joyful, joyous, merry, mirthful; encouraging, hopeful, optimistic; lighthearted, lightsomeAntonyms 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 close, closemouthed, secretive, reticent, tight-mouthed, uncommunicativeRelated Words quiet, reserved, silent, taciturn, tight-lipped; discreet, prudent; clandestine, covert, furtive, hugger-mugger, secret, sneak, sneaky, stealthy, surreptitious, undercover, underhand, underhandedNear Antonyms candid, frank, honest, out-front, up-front; blunt, outspoken, tactlessAntonyms communicative, open

5 having an often intentionally veiled or uncertain meaning a troubled kid who was always muttering dark threats that someday they'd all be sorry Synonyms ambiguous, arcane, cryptic, obscure, deep, Delphic, double-edged, elliptical (or elliptic), enigmatic (also enigmatical), equivocal, fuliginous, inscrutable, murky, mysterious, mystic, nebulous, occult, opaqueRelated Words 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, obtuseNear Antonyms 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, unmistakableAntonyms accessible, clear, nonambiguous, obvious, plain, unambiguous, unequivocal

6 lacking in education or the knowledge gained from books a dark period in European history when people lived in ignorance, fear, and want Synonyms analphabetic, benighted, ignorant, illiterate, nonliterate, rude, simple, uneducated, uninstructed, unlearned, unlettered, unread, unschooled, untaught, untutoredRelated Words 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, sillyNear Antonyms brilliant, intelligent, smart; experienced, expert, trained; erudite, learned, polyhistoric, polymath (or polymathic), scholarly; cultivated, cultured, highbrow, intellectual; sophisticated; acquainted, aware, familiarAntonyms 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 black, bad, evil, immoral, iniquitous, nefarious, rotten, sinful, unethical, unlawful, unrighteous, unsavory, vicious, vile, villainous, wicked, wrongRelated Words 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, dishonorableNear Antonyms 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, worthyAntonyms decent, ethical, good, honest, honorable, just, moral, right, righteous, sublime, upright, virtuous