Meaning of dark in English

dark

adjective

/dɑːrk/ uk

/dɑːk/

dark adjective (WITHOUT LIGHT)

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with little or no light:

It was too dark to see much.

Our bedroom was very dark until we put a larger window in.

dark corner Prostitutes and drug dealers found safety in the dark corners of the cemetery.

get dark What time does it get dark in the summer?

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

with little or no light

darkShe peered down the dark hallway.
darkenedWe arrived late and had to make our way to our seats in a darkened theater.
dimHe sat in a dim corner of the waiting room.
shadowyI was afraid to walk down the dim, shadowy corridor.
pitch blackIt was pitch black on our street after the power outage.

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nearer to black than white in color:

dark blue/green

dark cloud There were some ominous dark clouds in the sky.

dark hair She has dark hair.

dark eyes They have dark eyes.

tall, dark, and handsome He was tall, dark (= with black/brown hair), and handsome.

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The sun's going down and it'll be dark soon.
The room was so dark, I had to feel my way along the wall to the door.
The flame above the oil well flared up into the dark sky.
I had to grope my way up the dark stairs.
She hated the cold dark days of winter.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Darkness & becoming dark

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Black, white & gray

dark adjective (SAD)

C1 [ before noun ]

sad and without hope:

dark chapter Her husband's sudden death was the start of a dark chapter in her life.

This environmental report contains more dark predictions about the future of the earth.

dealing with sad or serious subjects:

This is a comic novel, but a dark one too that doesn't shy away from the pain of grief.

The new drama series, set in Finland, is one of the darkest, both literally and figuratively, that I have ever seen.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Feeling sad and unhappy

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Not hopeful

Serious and unpleasant

dark adjective (EVIL)

evil or threatening:

He believed dark forces were threatening democracy.

dark side There's a darker side to his character.

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Morally wrong and evil

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Dangers and threats

dark adjective (SECRET)

secret or hidden:

keep something dark I've just been promoted, but keep it dark - I don't want everyone to know just yet.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Secrecy and privacy

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Related word

darkness

Idioms

the darkest hour is just before the dawn
the/sb's dark side
go dark
go over to the dark side

dark

noun

/dɑːrk/ uk

/dɑːk/

the dark

the fact of there being no light somewhere:

Cats can see in the dark.

I've always been afraid of the dark.

We could hear her stumbling around the bedroom in the dark.

Her eyes slowly adjusted to the dark.

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He left very early and had to get dressed in the dark.
I found the right coin in the dark by touch.
I'm terrified of the dark.

before/after dark

before/after the sun has gone down:

It isn't safe to leave the house after dark.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Darkness & becoming dark

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Idiom

be in the dark

(Definition of dark from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

dark | Intermediate English

dark

adjective [ -er/-est only ]

/dɑrk/

dark adjective [-er/-est only] (WITHOUT LIGHT)

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with little or no light, or having little brightness:

It was too dark to see much of anything.

What time does it get dark in the summer?

Dark colors have less white in them:

a dark blue dress

dark hair/eyes

dark adjective [-er/-est only] (SAD)

unhappy or sad; gloomy:

The report contains dark predictions about the future.

dark adjective [-er/-est only] (EVIL)

evil or threatening:

He gave me a dark look when I criticized his work.

darkness

noun [ U ] us

/ˈdɑrk·nəs/

The city was plunged into darkness by the power blackout.

dark

noun [ U ]

/dɑrk/

dark noun [U] (ABSENCE OF LIGHT)

the absence of light:

Does eating carrots really help you to see in the dark?

She arrived home well before/after dark (= before/after the sun had gone down).

Idiom

in the dark

(Definition of dark from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of dark

dark

He was last seen wearing a dark gray hooded sweatshirt, dark-colored pants and black and white shoes.

From The Mercury News

To use fresh ginger, remove the dark peel and cut a section of the light colored root.

From Huffington Post

In 2011 there were a deluge of articles on the surplus of dark chicken meat.

From Huffington Post

A hoax science study exposes the dark side of open-access publishing.

From Los Angeles Times

Because the handsome dark foliage doesn't overwhelm, the great multitude of these yellow flowers is very visible.

From San Francisco Chronicle

There's a tangle of adults with dark fur over by the water valve.

From NPR

The novel is so dark, disturbing, and obsessive that it more or less wrecked the author's career.

From Slate Magazine

The difference between light and dark is resolution.

From CNET

It is not entirely clear what's driving the link between darker colored jerseys and increased penalties.

From NPR

The universe is filled with exploding cells strung like pearls on the tissue of dark matter.

From National Geographic

Hopefully these dark days will pass very quickly.

From Bloomberg

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What is the pronunciation of dark?