Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Darkness
Dark′ness
,Noun.
1.
The absence of light; blackness; obscurity; gloom.
And
darkness
was upon the face of the deep. Gen. i. 2.
2.
A state of privacy; secrecy.
What I tell you in
darkness
, that speak ye in light. Matt. x. 27.
3.
A state of ignorance or error, especially on moral or religious subjects; hence, wickedness; impurity.
Men loved
darkness
rather than light, because their deeds were evil. John. iii. 19.
Pursue these sons of
From all heaven’s bounds.
darkness
: drive them outFrom all heaven’s bounds.
Milton.
4.
Want of clearness or perspicuity; obscurity;
as, the
. darkness
of a subject, or of a discussion5.
A state of distress or trouble.
A day of clouds and of thick
darkness
. Joel. ii. 2.
Darkness arises from a total, and dimness from a partial, want of light. A thing is obscure when so overclouded or covered as not to be easily perceived. As tha shade or obscurity increases, it deepens into gloom. What is dark is hidden from view; what is obscure is difficult to perceive or penetrate; the eye becomes dim with age; an impending storm fills the atmosphere with gloom. When taken figuratively, these words have a like use; as, the darkness of ignorance; dimness of discernment; obscurity of reasoning; gloom of superstition.
Webster 1828 Edition
Darkness
D'ARKNESS
, n.1.
Absence of light.And darkness was on the face of the deep. Gen. i.
2.
Obscurity; want of clearness or perspicuity; that quality or state which renders any thing difficult to be understood; as the darkness of counsels.3.
A state of being intellectually clouded; ignorance.Men loved darkness rather than light. John iii.
4.
A private place; secrecy; privacy.What I tell in darkness, that speak ye in light. Matt. x.
5.
Infernal gloom; hell; as utter darkness. Matt. xxii.6.
Great trouble and distress; calamities; perplexities. A day of clouds and thick darkness. Joel ii. Is. viii.
7.
Empire of Satan.Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness. Col. i.
8.
Opakeness.Land of darkness, the grave. Job x.
Definition 2024
darkness
darkness
English
Alternative forms
Noun
darkness (countable and uncountable, plural darknesses)
- (uncountable) The state of being dark; lack of light.
- The darkness of the room made it difficult to see.
- 1912, Willa Cather, The Bohemian Girl
- Over everything was darkness and thick silence, and the smell of dust and sunflowers.
- 1914, Louis Joseph Vance, Nobody, chapter III:
- Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.
- (uncountable) Gloom.
- (countable) The product of being dark.
- (uncountable) The state or quality of reflecting little light, of tending to a blackish or brownish color.
- The darkness of her skin betrayed her Mediterranean heritage.
- (uncountable) Evilness, lack of understanding or compassion, reference to death or suffering.
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
state of being dark
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gloom
state of reflecting little light; tending to blackish or brownish