in the dark
Lacking crucial knowledge
In the dark means uninformed or unaware of something others may know.
To be kept in the dark is to be deliberately excluded from information: Management kept employees in the dark about the layoffs.
To be left in the dark suggests abandonment rather than active concealment.
The phrase draws on darkness as the absence of illuminating knowledge.
- ignoranceAbsence of knowledge
- nighttimeDark hours between dusk and dawn
- dead of nightDarkest part of evening
- eclipseCelestial body blocks another
- obscurityState of being unknown
obliviousness · flying blind · unawareness · no clue · out of touch · mystery · shadow · fumbling · groping · cluelessness · concealment · befuddled · blindsided · need-to-know · uninformed · clandestine · hush-hush · behind closed doors
- secrecysecrecy, secret, secrets, confidential, classified
- naivetygreenhorn, newbie, tenderfoot, raw recruit, born yesterday
- idiomstime flies, ring a bell, break a leg, eat your words, raining cats and dogs
- ignoranceignorance, unawareness, nescience, clueless, oblivious
- confusionconfusion, confused, bewilderment, perplexity, baffled
- lostlost, missing, mislaid, misplaced, gone
in the darkin the know
Possessing privileged information
well-informed · informed · aware · in the loop · enlightened
dark, the, darkness, darken, darkened, darkest, darkly, darker, darkens