düster
German, adjective
düster is spelled D-Ü-S-T-E-R (6 letters) and appears 3.9 times per million words in written German, the 14,778th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Düster is a German adjective meaning “dark, dim, gloomy, obscure” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). Without its umlaut, duster is a different word: “alternative form of düster”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “schlecht beleuchtet, von wenig Licht erhellt”.
What does düster mean in English?
adjective
- 1
dark, dim, gloomy, obscure
- 2
cheerless, melancholy, somber
adjective
- 1
alternative form of düster
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. schlecht beleuchtet, von wenig Licht erhellt 2. schwer einzuschätzen, aber unheimlich bis bedrohlich gedeutet 3. voller negativer, schlimmer Gedanken/Befürchtungen 4. schwer einzuschätzen und deshalb undeutlich
adjective: 1. dunkel 2. unfreundlich
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of düster
- düsterer masculine nominative singular
- düstrer comparative
- am düstersten superlative
- düstere feminine nominative singular
- düsteres neuter nominative singular
- düsteren genitive masculine singular
- düsterem dative masculine singular
- der düstere definite includes-article masculine
- die düstere definite feminine includes-article
- das düstere definite includes-article neuter
- die düsteren definite includes-article nominative
- des düsteren definite genitive includes-article
- der düsteren definite feminine genitive
- dem düsteren dative definite includes-article
- duster variant
- düster variant
- dusterer comparative
- dustrer comparative
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to düster
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is düster in German?
düster appears 3.9 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).