dark
Pronunciation: (därk), [key]
— adj., n., v. -er, -est,
—adj.
- having very little or no light: a dark room.
- radiating, admitting, or reflecting little light: a dark color.
- approaching black in hue: a dark brown.
- not pale or fair; swarthy: a dark complexion.
- brunette; dark-colored: dark eyebrows.
- having brunette hair: She's dark but her children are blond.
- (of coffee) containing only a small amount of milk or cream.
- gloomy; cheerless; dismal: the dark days of World War II.
- sullen; frowning: a dark expression.
- evil; iniquitous; wicked: a dark plot.
- destitute of knowledge or culture; unenlightened.
- hard to understand; obscure.
- hidden; secret.
- silent; reticent.
- (of a theater) offering no performances; closed: The theaters in this town are dark on Sundays.
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- (of an l-sound) having back-vowel resonance; situated after a vowel in the same syllable. Cf. clear (def. 24a).
- (of a speech sound) of dull quality; acoustically damped.
- to keep as a secret; conceal: They kept their political activities dark.
—n.
- the absence of light; darkness: I can't see well in the dark.
- night; nightfall: Please come home before dark.
- a dark place.
- a dark color.
- He was in the dark about their plans for the evening.
- in ignorance; uninformed:He was in the dark about their plans for the evening.
- in secrecy; concealed; obscure.
—v.t.
- to make dark; darken.
—v.i.
- to grow dark; darken.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.