darkness
dark·ness/ˈdɑɹk.nɪs/noun
darkness is spelled D-A-R-K-N-E-S-S: 8 letters and 2 syllables (dark·ness). It appears 20 times per million words in written English, the 4,302nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, darkness means “The state of being dark; lack of light; the absolute or comparative absence of light” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of darkness is darknesses.
How many letters and syllables are in darkness?
| Letters | 8: D-A-R-K-N-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: dark·ness |
| In writing | 20 times per million words; the 4,302nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is darkness?
Darkness appears 20 times per million words in written English, the 4,302nd 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 darkness?
- UK /ˈdɑːk.nəs/
- US /ˈdɑɹk.nɪs/
Darkness has 2 syllables, split dark·ness in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-darkness.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of darkness
- darknesses plural
- darckness
- darkeness
- darknesse
- darkenesse
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does darkness mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The state of being dark; lack of light; the absolute or comparative absence of light.
The darkness of the room made it difficult to see.
- 2
The state or quality of reflecting little light, of tending to a blackish or brownish color.
The darkness of her skin betrayed her Mediterranean heritage.
- 3
Any space that such colour pervades.
Out of the darkness came some flickers of light.
- 4
Gloom; gloominess; depression.
- 5
The product of being dark.
- 6
Lack of understanding or compassion; spiritual or mental blindness.
- 7
Secrecy; concealment.
- 8
Lack of knowledge; obscurity or meaning or intelligibility; the unknown.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Darkness in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | obscurité, ténèbres, sombreur, noirceur |
| German | Dunkelheit, Finsternis |
| Portuguese | escuridão, trevas, obscuridade , escuro |
| Spanish | oscuridad , tinieblas |
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 darkness come from?
From Middle English derknesse, from Old English deorcnes; equivalent to dark + -ness.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).