dark alley
Unlit narrow street
A dark alley is a narrow passage between buildings, poorly lit and often associated with danger or illicit activity.
The phrase evokes urban settings where muggings, drug deals, or shady encounters might occur: I wouldn't walk down that dark alley alone at night.
Figuratively, it suggests risky or morally questionable territory: That line of questioning led us down a dark alley.
- shadowLight blocked by object
- dead of nightDarkest part of evening
- streetlightRoadside illumination fixture
- dangerExposure to harm
- film noirStylish, shadowy crime drama
flickering light · noir · crime · mugger · lurking · garbage · dumpster · narrow · brick · fog · escape · chase · cat and mouse · shortcut · sinister · urban · urban decay · gritty
- thriller tropesplot twist, red herring, cliffhanger, whodunit, femme fatale
- danger zonesdanger zone, danger zones, disaster zone, war zone, war zones
- horrorhorror, terror, fear, dread, haunted
- mysteryclue, detective, suspect, clues, sleuth
- Darknessblackness, pitch black, pitch-black, inkiness, murk
- hellholeshellhole, dungeons, dungeon, dump, dumps
dark alleyhigh street
Town's central shopping road
commercial district · pedestrian mall · Times Square · Champs-Élysées · Fifth Avenue
dark, alley, darken, darkened, darkening, darker, darkest, darkly, darkness