1
as in dim
being without light or without much light
a dark alley that most people wisely avoided
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Relevance
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2
3
as in bleak
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
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4
as in silent
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
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5
as in ambiguous
having an often intentionally veiled or uncertain meaning
the superhero was not daunted by the villain's dark threats
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6
as in ignorant
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
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7
as in evil
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
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1
as in shadows
a time or place of little or no light
I have a bad habit of running into tables in the dark
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2
as in night
the time from sunset to sunrise when there is no visible sunlight
we were going to wait until dark to go trick-or-treating
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of dark
Karla Cote,
Variety,
23 June 2026
Suddenly, your living room goes dark.
—
Elisabeth Garber-Paul,
Rolling Stone,
23 June 2026
Paul Ridden
june 22,
New Atlas,
22 June 2026
Keep Children and Pets Away In many situations, the mother will return after dark to retrieve the babies.
—
Michelle Mastro,
Martha Stewart,
20 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for dark
Adjective
Their relationship quickly unravels once Emma, while at dinner with friends Rachel (Alana Haim) and Mike (Mamoudou Athie), reveals her deepest, darkest secret, which permanently and unexpectedly alters the connection between her and Charlie.
—
Karla Cote,
Variety,
23 June 2026
Suddenly, your living room goes dark.
—
Elisabeth Garber-Paul,
Rolling Stone,
23 June 2026
Noun
And this is the only model in the range to offer six-step adjustment of the aperture for even more control over onscreen lights and darks.
—
Paul Ridden
june 22,
New Atlas,
22 June 2026
Keep Children and Pets Away In many situations, the mother will return after dark to retrieve the babies.
—
Michelle Mastro,
Martha Stewart,
20 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for dark
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dark
Adjective
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The details remain murky, but the investment fund would be financed privately and not by US taxpayers, according to the administration.
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For a predator that relies on sight and fast reaction distances in shallow water, murky conditions can alter the entire hunting landscape and prey may become harder to detect.
Adjective
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For the dinner, which doubled as a celebration of his sixth consecutive return to the Wimbledon tournament, as well as the campaign launch, the Italian tennis player opted for a more casual look in black.
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She was last seen wearing an orange/brown sweater and gray sweatpants and carrying a pink/black duffle bag.
Adjective
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My father is a can-do, glass-half-full guy, a quality that has always felt like a rebuke of my own bleak world view, which makes the poor man literally wince.
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The numbers were even bleaker in other categories.
Adjective
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Coffin came up with the 1920s backdrop – an era that saw cinema shift from silent films to talkies — and did something the franchise rarely permits — make something personal.
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The Rangers offense was silent during the beginning of the game, while the defense held together.
Adjective
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Rubio met with Gulf Arab leaders in Bahrain on Thursday in an effort to assuage their concerns over certain terms of the MOU, including the ambiguous language around the management of the Strait of Hormuz.
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With one, everything the best-performing agent learns is written into a layer for the next—how to handle a difficult customer, which exception patterns resolved cleanly, what an ambiguous edge case meant for the business.
Adjective
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Their earliest performances could be fun and irreverent, too, but Boy George says they were also marred by ignorant, homophobic heckling.
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And using both words does not reveal that a person is ignorant but rather cosmopolitan.
Adjective
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Zoroastrianism’s core tenets – a single God, the cosmic struggle between good and evil – are widely believed by historians to have formed the theological groundwork for the major Abrahamic religions.
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Not all devices are evil, the toys realize, and even the best machines—like even the best toys—will eventually break down and get tossed aside for a shiny new model.
Noun
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As a result, MSV now lives on in the shadows.
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Aerial video of the blaze showed smoke billowing from numerous beachside buildings, with large gray plumes of smoke casting dark shadows on the beach's turquoise waters.
Cite this Entry
“Dark.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dark. Accessed 27 Jun. 2026.
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