darken
English · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
darken
- /ˈdɑɹkən/ US
- /ˈdɑːkən/ UK
Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)kən
Where it comes from
From Middle English derkenen, dirkenen, from Old English *deorcnian, *diercnian (“to darken”), from Proto-West Germanic *dirkinōn (“to darken”), equivalent to dark + -en.
Cognate with Scots derken, durken (“to darken”), Old High German tarchanjan, terchinen (“to darken”), Middle High German terken, derken (“to darken”).
verb darkens · darkening · darkened · darken
- To make dark or darker by reducing light. […] they [locusts] covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened […]
- To become dark or darker (having less light). […] the owl and the bat flew round the darkening trees:
-
To get dark (referring to the sky, either in the evening or as a result of cloud).
Well, I must go in now; and you too: it darkens.
Similar: dusk
- To make dark or darker in colour. She puts on lipstick and darkens her eyebrows, which are now very scanty […]
-
To become dark or darker in colour.
The lovely hair had lost its rose-gold glimmer, and had darkened to rose-brown […]
Similar: darkle
-
To render gloomy, darker in mood.
With these forced thoughts, I prithee, darken not
The mirth o’ the feast.
Similar: begloom, bring down, dispirit, aggrieve, attrist, begrieve, besorrow, grieve, pain, come down on, contristate, darken
-
To become gloomy, darker in mood.
1797, Ann Radcliffe, The Italian, London: T. Cadell Jun[ior] and W. Davies, Volume 2, Chapter 9, p. 303,
His countenance darkened while he spoke […]
Similar: gloom, mourn, yearn, aggrieve, besorrow, condole, darken, engrieve, erme, grieve, grieven, bleed
- To blind, impair the eyesight. Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see […]
- To be blinded, lose one’s eyesight.
- To cloud, obscure, or perplex; to render less clear or intelligible. Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
-
To make foul; to sully; to tarnish.
I must not think there are
Evils enow to darken all his goodness:
Similar: befoul, denigrate, soil, assoil, beclart, bedaub, bedirty, imbrue (especially with blood), bedizen, befile, befilth, begrime
-
To be extinguished or deprived of vitality, to die.
The Danube to the Severn gave
The darken’d heart that beat no more;
They laid him by the pleasant shore,
And in the hearing of the wave.
Similar: cross the Styx, expire, pass away, assume room temperature, auger in, be called home, be gathered to one's fathers, be like the the One, be no more, be with Jesus, be with the Lord, bite the big one
Translations
Every language
verb to become darker (less bright)
| Français | obscurcir, assombrir |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | verdunkeln |
| Italiano | imbrunire |
| Русский | темне́ть temnétʹ |
verb to make dark by reducing light
| Español | oscurecer, obscurecer, infuscar |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 어둡게 하다 eodupge hada |
| Français | obscurcir, assombrir |
| Italiano | imbrunire |
| Română | întuneca |
| Русский | затемнять zatemnjatʹ |
verb to become dark(er) in colour
| Français | foncer |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | verdunkeln |
| Italiano | imbrunire |
| Русский | темне́ть temnétʹ |
Talk about this word "darken." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/darken. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. darken. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/darken "darken." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/darken.Cite this
@misc{darken_2026,
title = {darken},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/darken},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
