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Glite Dictionary
to look on the dark side

to look on the dark side

1 7.5
Focus on the bad parts of a situation and expect the worst
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : ver el lado negativo
  • They refuse to look on the dark side of reality, and they want her to blink it away too.

I don't get really, I don't really get depressed, but I do always look on the darker side of things more often than not.

Examples

  • He's Russian and the Russians are inclined to look on the dark side.

    You Can't Take It with You (1938)

  • She always looks on the dark side, which makes it hard for her to enjoy life.

  • Do you think your songs look on the dark side of things?

    The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)

  • Before you say anything, let me just say that Jane has a tendency to look on the dark side of things.

    Nuclear Hurricane (2007)

  • I don't get really, I don't really get depressed, but I do always look on the darker side of things more often than not.

    Wayne Goss

  • Before making a decision, try not to look on the dark side and consider the positive options available.

  • Instead of looking on the dark side, let's find a way to solve the problem together.

Synonyms

to catastrophize
vsto look on the dark side
1 8.4

To think a situation is much worse than it really is

focus on negative aspects and expect bad results rather than exaggerating outcomes

Antonyms

optimism
209 2.8

A tendency to expect good results and see the positive side of things

to look on the bright side
  • Informal
30 3.7

Try to find something positive in a bad situation

How Pessimistic

despair
210 3.5
to look on the dark side
  • Informal
1 7.5
pessimism
28 4.6

Surface Forms

look on the dark side infinitive
looked on the dark side past
looked on the dark side past participle
looking on the dark side present participle
looks on the dark side third person singular

Morphology

look + on + the + dark + side

The meaning is directly compositional: 'look on' (consider/observe) combined with 'dark' (gloomy/negative) + 'side' (aspect) yields 'consider the negative aspect'. A B1 learner who knows the constituent words can readily infer this figurative but transparent sense, as 'dark side' as the negative aspect is a common, cross-linguistically accessible metaphor.

Etymology

Look on the dark side may come from the simple image of someone turning their eyes to the dark side of a scene, where shadows hide the bright parts. When you look there you see only problems, so the phrase means 'to focus on the negative'.