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PlainSpell

dark

/dɑɹk/adjective, noun, verb

dark is spelled D-A-R-K: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 110 times per million words in written English, the 972nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, dark means “Having an absolute or (more often) relative lack of light” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in dark?

Letters4: D-A-R-K
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing110 times per million words; the 972nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is dark?

Dark appears 110 times per million words in written English, the 972nd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce dark?

  • UK /dɑːk/
  • US /dɑɹk/

Dark has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-dark.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with dark?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as dark from its last stressed vowel (/ɑɹk/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of dark

  • darker comparative
  • darkest superlative
  • darks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • darking participle, present
  • darked participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does dark mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Having an absolute or (more often) relative lack of light.

    The room was too dark for reading.

  2. 2

    Extinguished.

    Dark signals should be treated as all-way stop signs.

  3. 3

    Deprived of sight; blind.

  4. 4

    Transmitting, reflecting, or receiving inadequate light to render timely discernment or comprehension

  5. 5

    Dull or deeper in hue; not bright or light.

    My sister’s hair is darker than mine.

  6. 6

    Ambiguously or unclearly expressed.

  7. 7

    Marked by or conducted with secrecy.

    The dark side of the moon.

  8. 8

    Having racing capability not widely known.

noun

  1. 1

    A complete or (more often) partial absence of light.

    Dark surrounds us completely.

  2. 2

    Ignorance.

    We kept him in the dark.

  3. 3

    Nightfall.

    It was after dark before we got to playing baseball.

  4. 4

    A dark shade or dark passage in a painting, engraving, etc.

verb

  1. 1

    To grow or become dark, darken.

  2. 2

    To remain in the dark, lurk, lie hidden or concealed.

  3. 3

    To make dark, darken; to obscure.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate dark?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of dark: dk.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Dark in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchobscur, sombre (having an absolute or relative lack of light), foncé (not bright or light, deeper in hue – see also…), noir, obscurité (a complete or partial absence of light), tombée de la nuit (nightfall)
Germandunkel, finster (having an absolute or relative lack of light), Dunkelheit, Dunkel (a complete or partial absence of light), düster (hidden, secret), schwarz (without moral or spiritual light – see also…)
Portugueseescuro (having an absolute or relative lack of light), escuridão (a complete or partial absence of light), obscuro (hidden, secret), sinistro, maligno (without moral or spiritual light – see also…), ignorância (ignorance)
Spanishoscuro (having an absolute or relative lack of light), fusco, fosco (not bright or light, deeper in hue – see also…), oscuridad (a complete or partial absence of light), anochecer, crepúsculo (nightfall)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does dark come from?

From Middle English derk, from Old English deorc, from Proto-West Germanic *derk (“dark”), of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-Indo-European *dʰerg- (“dim, dull”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- (“dull, dirty”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after dark