Synonyms for dark
- adjective
- noun
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Gloomy — conducive to hopelessness; depressing or bleak
gloomy, murky, dreary, dingy, cheerless, dismal, grey UK, gray US, grim, shady, sunless, shadowy, bleak, cloudy, joyless, overcast, desolate, drab, depressing, leaden
2. Sullen — extremely sad, depressing, or somber, typically due to, or marked by, a tragic or undesirable event
moody, heavy, somber US, sombre UK, morose, melancholy, sad, mournful, sorrowful, dull, doleful, glum, low, dour, funereal, sour, sullen dated, blue slang, solemn dated
3. Obscure — ambiguously or unclearly expressed
obscure, mysterious, enigmatic, occult, mystic, mystical, incomprehensible, abstruse formal, unknown, cryptic, nebulous, recondite dated
4. Sinister — without moral or spiritual light; sinister, malevolent, malign
sinister, evil, wicked, vile, menacing, bad, devilish, satanic, baleful, vicious, wrong, demonic
Other
black, dusky, dim, pitch-black, deep, darkish, unenlightened, hidden, secret, swarthy, unlit, twilight
Noun
2. Night — nightfall
Definitions
- adj. 1
Ambiguously or unclearly expressed.
- adj. 2
Without moral or spiritual light; sinister, malevolent, malign.
- n. 1
Nightfall.
It was after dark before we got to playing baseball.
- n. 2
A complete or (more often) partial absence of light.
Dark surrounds us completely.
Related words
Forms
- Plural
- darks → darknesses, shadows, nights, night-times…
Choose the right word
Strictly, that which is black is absolutely destitute of color; that which is dark is absolutely destitute of light. In common speech, however, a coat is black, tho not optically colorless; the night is dark, tho the stars shine.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- grey My friend disappeared like a grey mule in the fog.
- murky Stefan dived and disappeared into the murky water.
- dreary I've got to go to another dreary meeting tomorrow.
- dingy Lacking proper lighting, Tammy's room was depressingly dingy.
- somber We heard somber hollow sounds from the cave.
By length
- 3 letters
- bad1, low1, sad1, dim1
- 4 letters
- blue1, deep1, evil2, grey1, gray1, dull1, sour2, grim1, vile1, drab1, glum1, dour2, murk1
- 5 letters
- night1, black1, wrong1, heavy2, shady2, moody2, bleak1, murky2, dingy2, dusky, unlit
- 6 letters
- secret2, hidden2, shadow2, wicked2, mystic2, cloudy2, gloomy2, solemn2, dismal2, occult2, dreary2, somber2, sombre, sullen2
- 7 letters
- unknown2, obscure2, vicious2, satanic3, demonic3, shadowy3, cryptic2, sunless, joyless, swarthy2, baleful2, doleful2, darkish
- 8 letters
- darkness2, twilight2, sinister3, mystical3, desolate3, menacing3, overcast3, nebulous3, devilish2, mournful2, funereal, abstruse2
- 9 letters
- enigmatic4, nightfall2, sorrowful3, cheerless, recondite3
- 10 letters
- mysterious4, depressing3, melancholy4
- 13 letters
- unenlightened4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (evil2 = 2 syllables).