as in blackly
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Recent Examples of darkly
Though Ridley Scott works in a drastically different tone than the one John Carpenter brought to Dark Star, the two films share screenwriter Dan O’Bannon’s darkly comedic view of a future that has reduced humans to alternately bored and terrified cogs in larger machines.
—
Keith Phipps, Vulture, 23 Apr. 2026
It’s billed as a darkly comic Southern story about redemption, survival, and small-town chaos.
—Matt Grobar, Deadline, 23 Apr. 2026
In theaters Friday after a strong reception at SXSW last month, the genre-scrambling, darkly comic neo-western casts him as Ulysses, a principled small-town sheriff who takes a temporary posting in a sleepy corner of Minnesota called Normal.
—Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2026
This will allow the inside to cook thoroughly without letting the outer crust get too darkly browned.
—Victoria Spencer, Martha Stewart, 14 Apr. 2026
From a darkly comic road rage incident to something more ambiguous, and potentially more dangerous; from the open roads of Southern California to an exclusive country club in Montecito; and from a couple of strangers in conflict to two actual couples in conflict with each other — and themselves.
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 13 Apr. 2026
Co-created by and starring Dan Levy, the darkly funny series mixes dysfunctional family antics with the drama of being pulled into an organized crime ring.
—Rebecca Aizin, PEOPLE, 10 Apr. 2026
What ‘Forbidden Fruits’ Is About The film offers a darkly comic premise.
—Hanna Wickes, Charlotte Observer, 8 Apr. 2026
There are some fine metal bands visiting Connecticut this week, from the darkly improvisatory Puscifer to Michigan death metal icons The Black Dahlia Murder to the local nu-metal act Cheem.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 4 Apr. 2026
Keith Phipps, Vulture, 23 Apr. 2026
It’s billed as a darkly comic Southern story about redemption, survival, and small-town chaos.
—Matt Grobar, Deadline, 23 Apr. 2026
In theaters Friday after a strong reception at SXSW last month, the genre-scrambling, darkly comic neo-western casts him as Ulysses, a principled small-town sheriff who takes a temporary posting in a sleepy corner of Minnesota called Normal.
—Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2026
This will allow the inside to cook thoroughly without letting the outer crust get too darkly browned.
—Victoria Spencer, Martha Stewart, 14 Apr. 2026
From a darkly comic road rage incident to something more ambiguous, and potentially more dangerous; from the open roads of Southern California to an exclusive country club in Montecito; and from a couple of strangers in conflict to two actual couples in conflict with each other — and themselves.
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 13 Apr. 2026
Co-created by and starring Dan Levy, the darkly funny series mixes dysfunctional family antics with the drama of being pulled into an organized crime ring.
—Rebecca Aizin, PEOPLE, 10 Apr. 2026
What ‘Forbidden Fruits’ Is About The film offers a darkly comic premise.
—Hanna Wickes, Charlotte Observer, 8 Apr. 2026
There are some fine metal bands visiting Connecticut this week, from the darkly improvisatory Puscifer to Michigan death metal icons The Black Dahlia Murder to the local nu-metal act Cheem.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 4 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for darkly
Adverb
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What at first appears to be a run-of-the-mill trauma drama about a family dealing with the eldest child’s anorexia nervosa gradually evolves into something odder and more original, even blackly comic, in Ungrateful Beings.—
Leslie Felperin,
HollywoodReporter,
25 Sep. 2025
Adverb
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Joseph and his supporters were clad in green and white and marched somberly to the election council’s headquarters.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
12 Mar. 2026
-
As a light dusting of snow fell over Minneapolis Sunday morning, community members lit candles, laid fresh flowers and stood somberly around a makeshift vigil at the site of Pretti’s death.—
Michael Biesecker,
Chicago Tribune,
25 Jan. 2026
Adverb
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In Time Regained, the concluding volume of Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, an older version of the narrator gloomily decides to attend a gathering at the Guermantes’ mansion.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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For example, professors Morana Koludrovic and Franceska Delija at the University of Split in Croatia also make the point, more pessimistically, however, that the young can no longer learn from the old, not with all the changes in technology and media.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
20 Feb. 2026
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Look pessimistically, and perhaps the inexperience is too much of a barrier.—
Jake Ciely,
New York Times,
20 Aug. 2025
Adverb
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Take, for example, Keanu Reeves, who was memeified after a photo of the actor sullenly eating a sandwich went viral.—
Ben Pettis,
The Conversation,
3 Apr. 2026
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Like a fisherman left empty-handed after a heavy pull at her line, the woman sullenly took Sam’s picture.—
Nora DeLigter,
Curbed,
6 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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The Sierra Nevada mountains were replenished after seeing a dismally low snowpack to start the year, and snow even temporarily closed Yosemite National Park.—
Terry Castleman,
Los Angeles Times,
24 Feb. 2026
-
In this regard, ICE and the federal government have failed dismally.—
The Atlantic,
The Atlantic,
26 Jan. 2026
Adverb
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People can be seen running along the top of the bus and sitting on the front bumper as the driver stares glumly ahead from inside windows tagged with graffiti.—
Clara Harter,
Los Angeles Times,
24 Mar. 2026
-
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the conservative nonprofit American Action Forum, has watched glumly as Republicans have drifted away from their small-government traditions.—
David M. Drucker,
Twin Cities,
19 Oct. 2025
Adverb
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In many ways, Donovan’s story is distressingly familiar.—
Megan Molteni,
STAT,
7 Apr. 2026
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In essence, Bright Lights, Big City, instead of being emotionally provoking and riveting, is distressingly gray and tedious, enlivened only by Fox’s gifted histrionics.—
Duane Byrge,
HollywoodReporter,
1 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Darkly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/darkly. Accessed 25 Apr. 2026.
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