darkness
Americannoun
-
the state or quality of being dark.
The room was in total darkness.
-
absence or deficiency of light.
the darkness of night.
-
wickedness or evil.
Satan, the prince of darkness.
-
obscurity; concealment.
The darkness of the metaphor destroyed its effectiveness.
-
lack of knowledge or enlightenment.
heathen darkness.
-
lack of sight; blindness.
Other Word Forms
- predarkness noun
Etymology
Origin of darkness
First recorded before 1050; Middle English derknesse, Old English deorcnysse; equivalent to dark + -ness
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The first thing that strikes me is the darkness.
From BBC
One gets the sense that Miriam’s inner darkness is inseparable from her brilliance, like Georgiana’s birthmark in Hawthorne’s early short story.
Hospitals are in darkness with only emergency cases being admitted.
From BBC
Sure enough, there was Mother padding about in the darkness.
From Literature
He policed brushback pitches with ardor and once called a night game for darkness when lighting malfunctions compromised visibility near home plate.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
