dark

Universal Words adjective, noun adjective (darker, darkest) with little light 1 with no or very little light, especially because it is night: a dark room / street / forest * What time does it get dark in summer? * It was dark outside and I couldn't see much. OPPLIGHT colours 2 not light; closer in shade to black than to white: dark blue / green / red * Darker colours are more practical and don't show stains. OPPLIGHT, PALE 3 having a colour that is close to black: a dark suit * dark-coloured wood * The dark clouds in the sky meant that a storm was coming. hair / skin / eyes 4 brown or black in colour: Sue has long dark hair. * He was handsome with dark eyes. * Even if you have dark skin, you still need protection from the sun. 5 (of a person) having dark hair, eyes, etc: a dark handsome stranger mysterious 6 mysterious; hidden and not known about: There are no dark secrets in our family. evil 7 evil or frightening: There was a darker side to his nature. * the dark forces of the imagination without hope 8 unpleasant and without any hope that sth good will happen: the darkest days of Fascism * The film is a dark vision of the future. IDIOMS a dark horse 1 (BrE) a person who does not tell other people much about their life, and who surprises other people by having interesting qualities 2 an unknown competitor in a race, etc. who surprises everyone by winning keep sth dark (BrE, informal) to keep sth secret and not tell people about it: He's got two children? Well he's kept that dark, hasn't he! noun no light 1 (the dark) [sing.] the lack of light in a place, especially because it is night: All the lights went out and we were left in the dark. * Are the children afraid of the dark? * animals that can see in the dark colour 2 [U] an amount of sth that is dark in colour: patterns of light and dark IDIOMS after / before dark after/before the sun goes down and it is night: Try to get home before dark. * Don't go out alone after dark. in the dark (about sth) knowing nothing about sth: Workers were kept in the dark about the plans to sell the company. * She arrived at the meeting as much in the dark as everyone else. a shot / stab in the dark a guess; sth you do without knowing what the result will be: The figure he came up with was really just a shot in the dark. moreatLEAPn.