darkness
What night brings
Darkness is the absence of light.
At night, in caves, or in closed rooms, darkness prevails.
The word extends to anything hidden or unknown: the darkness of the human heart, kept in darkness about the plan.
Darkness also suggests evil or despair: the forces of darkness, a period of darkness in her life.
To do something under cover of darkness is to act at night, often secretly.
Light blocked by object
- gloomPervasive dimness or dejection
- shadeDarkness from blocked light
- blackoutComplete power loss
- eclipseCelestial body blocks another
dusk · twilight · obscurity · pitch-black · inkiness · void · shroud · opacity
Subdued, lasting sadness
- hopelessnessState without hope
- despairTotal absence of hope
- gloomPervasive dimness or dejection
- sadnessState of emotional pain
bleakness · sorrow · heaviness · mournfulness · pessimism · anguish · desolation · misery
Active during darkness
- midnightTwelve o'clock at night
- moonlightReflected solar radiance, nocturnal
- starlessLacking celestial pinpricks
- duskDimming after sundown
twilight · nightfall · owl · crickets · fireflies · constellations · sleep · dreams
Absence of vision
- oblivionComplete erasure from memory
- unawarenessState of not knowing
- fogLow-lying cloud cover
- benightednessState of profound unawareness
unconsciousness · unknowing · illiteracy · unenlightened · medieval · superstition · misinformation · confusion
Act of hiding something
- hiddenKept out of sight
- cloakSleeveless outer wrap
- veilFabric that obscures
- shadowLight blocked by object
cover · stealth · covert · undercover · clandestine · underground · black ops · shadowy
Visible electromagnetic radiation
- shadowLight blocked by object
- contrastNotable difference between things
- balanceSteadiness or amount owed
- yinFeminine cosmic force
good · evil · opposing · binary · polarity · Manichean · struggle · eternal
Intense anticipatory fear
- horrorExtreme fear or disgust
- terrorExtreme, overwhelming fear
- nightmareFrightening dream causing wakefulness
- hauntTrouble persistently, as spirits
monsters · ghosts · shadows · creeping · lurking · unknown · suspense · foreboding
Active ill will
- wickednessMoral corruption or evil
- sinisterThreateningly suggestive of harm
- demonicOf or like devils
- corruptionDishonest abuse of power
villainy · malice · iniquity · satanic · diabolical · unholy · depravity · fiendish
shadow
Light blocked by object
eclipse · dusk · twilight · obscurity · pitch-black · inkiness · void · shroud · opacity · nightfall
melancholy
Subdued, lasting sadness
- hopelessnessState without hope
- despairTotal absence of hope
- gloomPervasive dimness or dejection
sadness · bleakness · sorrow · heaviness · mournfulness · pessimism · anguish · desolation · misery · suffering
nocturnal
Active during darkness
- midnightTwelve o'clock at night
- moonlightReflected solar radiance, nocturnal
- starlessLacking celestial pinpricks
dusk · twilight · nightfall · owl · crickets · fireflies · constellations · sleep · dreams · insomnia
blindness
Absence of vision
- oblivionComplete erasure from memory
- unawarenessState of not knowing
- fogLow-lying cloud cover
benightedness · unconsciousness · unknowing · illiteracy · unenlightened · medieval · superstition · misinformation · confusion · veil
concealment
Act of hiding something
shadow · cover · stealth · covert · undercover · clandestine · underground · black ops · shadowy · conspiracy
light
Visible electromagnetic radiation
- shadowLight blocked by object
- contrastNotable difference between things
- balanceSteadiness or amount owed
yin · good · evil · opposing · binary · polarity · Manichean · struggle · eternal · cosmic
dread
Intense anticipatory fear
- horrorExtreme fear or disgust
- terrorExtreme, overwhelming fear
- nightmareFrightening dream causing wakefulness
haunt · monsters · ghosts · shadows · creeping · lurking · unknown · suspense · foreboding · menace
malevolence
Active ill will
- wickednessMoral corruption or evil
- sinisterThreateningly suggestive of harm
- demonicOf or like devils
corruption · villainy · malice · iniquity · satanic · diabolical · unholy · depravity · fiendish · nefarious
- Nightmoon, stars, moonlight, starlight, midnight
- nighttimemidnight, nightfall, night sky, nighttime, starry sky
- -NESS wordsfullness, happiness, kindness, sadness, fitness
- caves for childrenstalactites, stalagmites, bats, cave tours, echoes
- dream symbolsfalling, flying, being chased, drowning, death
- fearsspiders, snakes, falling, heights, death
darknesslight
Visible electromagnetic radiation
brightness · illumination · radiance · brilliance · luminosity
darknessenlightenment
Profound spiritual awakening
understanding · illumination · knowledge · clarity · insight
- in darknessLacking any illumination
- pitch darknessComplete absence of light
- light and darknessPresence and absence of illumination
- winter darknessCold season's extended night
- prince of darknessSupreme evil ruler
- Heart of DarknessNovella exploring imperialism's brutality