/dahrk/ , adj., darker, darkest , n. , v.
adj.
1. having very little or no light: a dark room.
2. radiating, admitting, or reflecting little light: a dark color.
3. approaching black in hue: a dark brown.
4. not pale or fair; swarthy: a dark complexion.
5. brunette; dark-colored: dark eyebrows.
6. having brunette hair: She's dark but her children are blond.
7. (of coffee) containing only a small amount of milk or cream.
8. gloomy; cheerless; dismal: the dark days of World War II.
9. sullen; frowning: a dark expression.
10. evil; iniquitous; wicked: a dark plot.
11. destitute of knowledge or culture; unenlightened.
12. hard to understand; obscure.
13. hidden; secret.
14. silent; reticent.
15. (of a theater) offering no performances; closed: The theaters in this town are dark on Sundays.
16. Phonet.
a. (of an l- sound) having back-vowel resonance; situated after a vowel in the same syllable. Cf. clear (def. 24a).
b. (of a speech sound) of dull quality; acoustically damped.
17. keep dark , to keep as a secret; conceal: They kept their political activities dark.
n.
18. the absence of light; darkness: I can't see well in the dark.
19. night; nightfall: Please come home before dark.
20. a dark place.
21. a dark color.
22. in the dark ,
a. in ignorance; uninformed: He was in the dark about their plans for the evening.
b. in secrecy; concealed; obscure.
v.t.
23. to make dark; darken.
v.i.
24. Obs. to grow dark; darken.
[ bef. 1000; (adj.) ME derk, OE deorc; (n. and v.) ME, deriv. of the adj.; cf. MHG terken to darken, hide ]
Syn. 1. DARK, DIM, OBSCURE, GLOOMY, MURKY refer to absence or insufficiency of light. DARK implies a more or less complete absence of light: a dark night. DIM implies faintness of light or indistinctness of form (resulting from the lack of light or from imperfect vision): a dim outline. OBSCURE implies dimness that may arise also from factors that interfere with light or vision: obscure because of haze. GLOOMY means cloudy, ill-lighted, dusky: a gloomy hall. MURKY implies a thick or misty darkness: murky water. 4. dusky, black. 12. recondite, abstruse.
Ant. 1. lighted. 2. bright. 8. cheerful. 9. pleasant. 12. clear.