dark

I

(Roget's IV) modif.

1. [Lacking brightness]

Syn. unlighted, unlit, dim, dusky, murky, gloomy, shadowy, somber, cloudy, foggy, sunless, lightless, indistinct, dull, faint, vague, misty, darkish, deep, drab, dingy, obscure, nebulous, shady, shaded, clouded, darkened, overcast, lowering, Cimmerian, opaque, crepuscular, Stygian, without light, tenebrous, bereft of light, ill-lighted, inky, pitch-dark, black, darkling*, darksome*, pitchy*; see also black 1 , dull 2 , hazy 1 .

Ant. bright*, light, illuminated.

2. [Dismal]

Syn. gloomy, hopeless, cheerless, sullen; see dismal 1 , sullen .

3. [Not known]

Syn. cryptic, hidden, mysterious; see obscure 3 , secret 1 .

4. [Lacking light for the future]

Syn. sinister, foreboding, unpropitious; see ominous .

5. [Dark in complexion]

Syn. brunet, brunette, swarthy, tan, black, Negro, Negroid, dusky, sable, dark-skinned, dark-haired, dark-complexioned, nonwhite, colored, Indian, melanous; see also African 2 , black 3 .

6. [Ignorant]

Syn. unenlightened, unread, uncultivated; see ignorant 2 .

7. [Evil]

Syn. sinister, iniquitous, immoral, corrupt; see wicked 1 .

Syn.- dark , the general word in this comParison, denotes a partial or complete absence of light [ a dark night ] ; dim implies so little light that objects can be seen only indistinctly [dim shapes in the shadows, the dim light of the moon ] ; dusky suggests the grayish, shadowy light of twilight [ a dusky winter evening ] ; murky now usually suggests the thick, heavy darkness of fog or smoke-filled air [ the murky ruins of a temple ] ; gloomy suggests a cloudy, cheerless darkness [ a gloomy forest ] n.

1. [Darkness]

Syn. gloom, murk, duskiness; see darkness 1 .

2. [Night]

Syn. nighttime, nightfall, evening; see night 1 .

• in the dark,

Syn. uninformed, in ignorance, unaware, naive; see ignorant 1 .

• keep dark,

Syn. conceal, keep secret, obscure; see hide 1 .

II

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus)

I

n.

nightfall, evening, dusk, twilight, midnight.

II

a.

1. black aphotic, dim, dusky, gloomy, unlit, nebulous, inky, shadowy, somber, gauzy, murky.

2. complexion swarthy, ebony, black.

3. dreary dismal, bleak, gloomy, stygian, depressing, somber, grim, morbid.

4. wicked evil, satanic, sinister, hellish, infernal.

ANT.: light, bright, sunny. see black, complexion

III

(Roget's Thesaurus II) I adjective 1. Having little or no light: black, pitch-dark. See LIGHT. 2. Deficient in brightness: caliginous, dim, dusky, murky, obscure. See LIGHT. 3. Somewhat black: blackish, dusky. See COLORS. 4. Of a complexion tending toward brown or black: bistered, black-a-vised, brunet, dusky, swarthy. See COLORS. 5. Dark and depressing: black, bleak, blue, cheerless, desolate, dismal, dreary, gloomy, glum, joyless, somber, tenebrific. See HAPPY, LIGHT. 6. Characterized by or expressive of a foreboding somberness: lowery, sullen. See WARN. 7. Marked by little hopefulness: dismal, gloomy, pessimistic. See HAPPY, HOPE. II noun Absence or deficiency of light: darkness, dimness, duskiness, murkiness, obscureness, obscurity. See LIGHT.