darkness

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈdɑɹknɪs/ UK /ˈdɑːknəs/ See IPA manual

noun Freq #2399

Meanings

1

noun
The state of having little or no light.

The whole house was in complete darkness.
2

noun
Evil or the absence of moral or spiritual goodness.

The story is about the struggle between light and darkness.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the state of having little... dark

2 noun · evil or the absence of... iniquity

Opposites

light lightness

Word family

Derived forms predarknesssemi-darknesssemidarkness

Etymology

From Middle English derknesse, from Old English deorcnes; equivalent to dark + -ness.

derknesse Middle English deorcnes Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

# darkness

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈdɑɹknɪs
**IPA (UK):** ˈdɑːknəs
**Frequency rank:** 2399

## Meanings
1. The state of having little or no light.
2. Evil or the absence of moral or spiritual goodness.

## Examples
- The whole house was in complete darkness.
- The story is about the struggle between light and darkness.

## Synonyms
- dark

## Antonyms
- light
- lightness

## Derived Forms
- predarkness
- semi-darkness
- semidarkness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: derknesse
- Root: deorcnes
- Affix: -ness - state

## Etymology
From Middle English derknesse, from Old English deorcnes; equivalent to dark + -ness.

## AI Etymology
darkness comes from Middle English derknesse, from Old English deorcnes; equivalent to dark + -ness. The historical chain includes Middle English derknesse, Old English deorcnes. Current senses include The state of having little or no light and Evil or the absence of moral or spiritual goodness. English relatives and later formations include predarkness, semi-darkness, semidarkness.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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darkness

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