A room can be dark, and so can a mood, a hair color or a motive, and almost no single replacement survives all four. Pitch-black suits a cellar but not a temper; bleak suits a winter but not a hallway. For missing light the safe choices are dim, unlit and shadowy; color takes deep, feeling takes grim or glum, and intent takes sinister.
Best synonyms for dark
Without light (adjective)
- black
- pitch-black
- dim
- unlit
- shadowy
- murky
Deep in color (adjective)
- deep
- dusky
- inky
Gloomy or grim (adjective)
- gloomy
- grim
- bleak
- dismal
- somber
- glum
- sullen
Sinister or evil (adjective)
- sinister
- evil
- wicked
- nefarious
- malevolent
Darkness as a thing (noun)
- darkness
- blackness
- gloom
- nightfall
- shadow
Which synonym should you use?
| If you mean… | Best alternatives |
|---|---|
| A room with no light at all | pitch-black, black |
| A room with weak, low light | dim, shadowy |
| Paint or fabric in a strong shade | deep, inky |
| A depressing run of weeks | bleak, grim, dismal |
| Someone silent after a disappointment | glum, sullen |
| A plan that threatens harm | sinister, nefarious, malevolent |
| Evil in a general moral sense | evil, wicked |
| The absence of light itself | darkness, blackness |
Dark synonyms explained
1. Pitch-black
Total darkness, with nothing visible at all. It sits at the far end of the scale from dim and shadowy, which both leave some light. It is mostly said of places and nights; for the look of dark water or a night sky, inky is more vivid.
Best used when: A cave, cellar or night with no light whatsoever.
The basement went pitch-black when the breaker tripped.
2. Dim
Light that is too weak, not light that is absent: lamps, bulbs, and rooms where you can still make out shapes. It is milder than pitch-black and, unlike shadowy, describes the light itself rather than what the light fails to show.
Best used when: Low lighting in a restaurant, hallway or bedroom.
The restaurant was so dim that we read the menu by phone light.
3. Shadowy
Shade or poor light hides the detail, usually with a hint of mystery. It also stretches to people and groups that are hard to identify, as in a shadowy donor, which dim never does.
Best used when: A dark corner, alley or figure you cannot make out clearly.
A shadowy figure stood at the far end of the parking lot.
4. Deep
Reach for this in front of a color word: deep blue, deep red, deep brown. It means rich and saturated rather than lightless, so it can replace dark in dark green but not in dark glasses or a dark room.
Best used when: Paint, fabric, hair or eyes in a strong, saturated shade.
She painted the front door a deep green.
5. Inky
Black or nearly black, with a liquid, slightly bluish quality, so it suits night skies, water, clouds and eyes. It is more vivid and more picturesque than deep, and it leaves no room for a lighter shade.
Best used when: Describing a night sky or dark water in descriptive writing.
An inky sky hung over the harbor.
6. Dusky
A soft dark: the half-light of evening, or a muted, smoky tint such as dusky pink. It is gentler than inky. For a person's skin it sounds dated, so name the shade plainly instead.
Best used when: Evening light or a muted, smoky color.
The dusky light of early evening turned the lake purple.
7. Gloomy
Dark and depressing at once, so one word covers a dim room, rainy weather and low spirits. Unlike dim, it carries a feeling; unlike grim, it suggests heaviness rather than hardship.
Best used when: A rainy, low-lit day or a heavy mood.
It was a gloomy afternoon of rain and low clouds.
8. Grim
Hard and without comfort. It describes facts and prospects more than light: a grim diagnosis, grim news, a grim face. It is stronger than gloomy because it implies something truly bad is happening.
Best used when: Bad news, a harsh situation or a stern expression.
The forecast for the town's economy looked grim.
9. Bleak
Bare, cold and hopeless: a bleak outlook, a bleak winter landscape. It leans toward emptiness where gloomy leans toward heaviness, and it says nothing about actual light.
Best used when: A hopeless outlook or an empty, windswept place.
The coach admitted the rest of the season looked bleak.
10. Glum
Quiet and downcast after a letdown, and nearly always said of a person. It is milder and shorter-lived than sullen, which adds resentment.
Best used when: Someone sitting silently after losing or being disappointed.
He looked glum the whole ride home after the loss.
11. Sullen
Silent, resentful bad temper, the kind that sits behind a dark scowl. It is stronger than glum because it implies anger at someone, not just disappointment.
Best used when: A teenager, a crowd or a worker who is sulking and resentful.
The sullen crowd refused to leave the plaza.
12. Sinister
Hints at hidden menace even when nothing bad has happened yet: a sinister smile, a sinister motive. It is about atmosphere and suspicion, where nefarious is about actual wrongdoing and evil is blunter.
Best used when: Something feels threatening but the harm is not yet proved.
There was something sinister about the way he kept smiling.
13. Nefarious
Plainly wicked or criminal, and used for schemes, plots and activities rather than moods. More formal and more theatrical than sinister, it can sound mock-serious in casual speech.
Best used when: A plot or scheme that is clearly criminal or corrupt.
Investigators uncovered a nefarious scheme to rig the bids.
14. Darkness
The standard noun for the absence of light. It also carries the other meanings of the noun: wickedness, as in the powers of darkness, and ignorance. Someone who does not know a fact is in the dark, not in the darkness, which describes physical surroundings.
Best used when: Naming the absence of light, or evil as a force.
Correct: The power went out and the whole street sank into darkness.
Incorrect: She was in the darkness about the merger until Friday.
For not knowing something, the idiom is in the dark: She was in the dark about the merger until Friday. Darkness works when the meaning is a physical lack of light, as in the first sentence.
15. Gloom
A dim, heavy half-dark, so it names a particular place or a low mood rather than pure blackness. It is less total than darkness and nearly always carries a feeling.
Best used when: A hallway, attic or mood that is dim and oppressive.
She peered into the gloom at the end of the hallway.
FAQ
What replaces dark in a sentence like The theater is dark on Mondays?
That use means no performance is scheduled, and none of the words above fit. Say closed or not performing, as in The theater is closed on Mondays.
What is a better word for dark hair?
Name the shade: dark brown, black, or deep brown. Brunette works for brown hair or for the person who has it, but it does not cover black hair.
What can I say instead of keep it dark?
That phrase is dated and mostly British. Say keep it secret, keep it quiet or keep it under wraps.