the Dark Ages

plural noun

1

: the period of European history from about A.D. 500 to 1000 : the first 500 years of the Middle Ages

2

or the dark ages often humorous : the period of time before things developed into their modern form

In the dark ages before computers, we often wrote our letters by hand.

Her father's ideas about women are from the Dark Ages.

Examples of the Dark Ages in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The 5th century was the beginning of the Dark Ages in Britain. —Erik Kain, Forbes, 8 Sep. 2024

Clearly, with such expressions of vindictiveness and animosity, the party of Lincoln wishes to move our nation backwards to the Dark Ages of humanity. —Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 12 Aug. 2024

When wealthy landowner Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan) hires archeologist Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) to dig up large mounds on her property, the pair make a startling discovery—a ship from the Dark Ages that turns out to be the burial site of someone of tremendous distinction. —Matt Kamen, WIRED, 6 July 2024

In Europe, the centuries afterward are sometimes called the Dark Ages. —Michael Mandelbaum, Foreign Affairs, 17 Oct. 2014

Immediately following the collapse of the Late Bronze Age, Greece was plunged into the Dark Ages, as connections among cities broke down and written records virtually disappeared. —Jack Knudson, Discover Magazine, 10 May 2024

The long centuries that followed, which the fourteenth-century Italian poet Petrarch called the Dark Ages, mark the conclusion of Vallejo’s book, a sorry end to an age of cosmopolitan excitement. —Claudia Roth Pierpont, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024

Michelle Yeoh Turned to Karl Lagerfeld’s Namesake Brand for Her Met Gala Outfit For many of those present, before-Instagram times is just another word for the Dark Ages. —Tina Isaac-Goizé, Vogue, 21 June 2023

Much of the background material in the Iliad and the Odyssey clearly references the Mycenaean period (though the narrative core is perhaps reflective of the Dark Ages before the rise of Classical Greece). —Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 6 July 2010