total darkness
8
3.5
- noun
- The cave was so deep that it was in total darkness, making it difficult to see anything.
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Watch on YouTubeAbsolute total darkness, pitch black, terrified.
- Absolute total darkness, pitch black, terrified.
- And they've adapted, presumably by Darwinian means, to survive in perpetual total darkness.
- They've been raised in total darkness.
Examples
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During the power outage, the house was engulfed in total darkness, leaving us feeling uneasy.
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But if we abandon it, will it not be cast into total darkness?
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The people will spend the next two months... in total darkness.
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But even in total darkness, god can find a way to light the path.
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No, it will work anywhere, even in total darkness.
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You must work in total darkness with both methods.
Academic text (1997) -
The whole thing is you eat your meal in total darkness.
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The door slammed shut and left me in total darkness.
Fiction book (1994) -
In the total darkness, I could hear the night whispering to me.
Fiction book (2000) -
The Reilly house, unlike its neighbors, was in total darkness.
Fiction book (2001)
Synonyms
534
1.0
A time or place with almost no light
31
3.4
A place with no light at all
4
2.5
A state with no light at all
Complete darkness so you cannot see anything
Complete darkness with no light at all
Complete darkness with no light at all
Antonyms
How Dark
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a complete absence of light' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'total' (complete) with 'darkness' (absence of light); a B1 learner who knows both words will easily infer the phrase. This is a regular adjective + noun composition found cross‑linguistically and follows standard English semantics, so it is immediately comprehensible.
Etymology
The phrase total darkness is a simple image: total means complete and darkness means no light, like a room with all the lights off. So it means 'a complete absence of light'.