dark
- adjective
- /dɑrk/
- Literature
- The author's dark themes made the book challenging to read.
It's, it's dark and, and, and difficult and confusing.
- It's, it's dark and, and, and difficult and confusing.
Examples
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Flannery O'Connor is famous for dark commentaries on humankind containing complex, mysterious themes.
Fiction book (2001) -
Many readers found the poem's dark imagery difficult to interpret.
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Let me ask some dark, difficult questions, if I might.
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It's, it's dark and, and, and difficult and confusing.
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I'm not sure what you were reading, Tom, but this is very dark stuff, very dark indeed.
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Students wondered, how could he write such a deep, dark emotional flash piece?
Academic text (2015) -
Yeah, I saw it, but to the readers in the paper, it's going to look like a dark blob.
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I will utter dark sayings which we have heard.
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I shot his films at NYU, and there were a couple of movies that were very dark, very cerebral.
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Her lecture on existential philosophy was filled with dark concepts that perplexed the audience.
Synonyms
Hard to understand because it is unclear or complex
Hard to see or understand because it is not clear
Dark and gloomy in a way that makes you feel uncertain or afraid
Dark and shadowy in a way that feels frightening
Antonyms
Idioms
Compounds
- Specialized
An invisible substance that does not give off or take in light and pulls things by gravity
A time in Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire when people had less learning and trade
A kind of chocolate that has lots of cocoa, little or no milk, and less sugar than milk chocolate
Meat from the legs and thighs of a bird that is darker and juicier than breast meat
An evil part of a mysterious power that bad characters use in Star Wars
- Literature
In US politics, strongly supporting the Democratic Party, often describing voters or areas that usually vote Democratic
- Specialized
A microscope that makes tiny particles too small for an ordinary microscope appear bright on a dark background
- Specialized
The eyes become more sensitive after bright light so you can see in low light
Harmful effects of modern tools and devices that hurt people and society, for example losing privacy or loneliness
- Slang
A joke name or image that shows US President Joe Biden as powerful and serious in online memes
- Specialized
A way of lighting a sample under a microscope to make tiny things look bright against a dark background
- Specialized
A way to see tiny things under a microscope as bright shapes on a dark background
- Informal
A joke that treats serious or painful subjects as funny and may upset some people
How Clear
Surface Forms
Etymology
Dark meaning 'hard to understand' comes from the old sense of 'hidden' in deorc, like something kept in shadow so you cannot see it clearly. So a dark text or idea feels difficult because it is not easy to see or understand.