dark woods

Gloomy forested area

Dark woods are forests that are dense, shadowy, or forbidding—places where the canopy blocks light and visibility is limited.

The phrase carries strong symbolic weight from folklore and literature, representing danger, the unknown, or spiritual crisis: In the middle of the journey of our life, I found myself in a dark woods.

To be in the dark woods is to face a difficult period of confusion or despair.

Related

twilight · undergrowth · canopy · old growth · murky · gloomy · thicket · haunted · moss · ferns · mist · wolves · wild animals · lost · tangled · tree roots · silence · moonlight

Categories
Opposites
light and openness

dark woodsopen field

Unenclosed outdoor space

open plain · desert · tundra · rolling hills · savanna

emotional/symbolic atmosphere

dark woodssafe haven

Protected place of shelter

sanctuary · paradise · home · promised land · Eden

navigability and orientation

dark woodsclear path

Unobstructed way forward

open road · beaten path

Family

dark, woods, darken, darkly, darkness, darker, darkest, wood, wooded

Familiarity
Top 100,000
Profile
Known to kids · Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Negative · Everyday, not technical · Rated G