darkness

/ˈdɑːknəs/

//ˈdɑːknəs// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"darkness" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“darkness” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #4,294. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,294
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The state of being dark; lack of light; the absolute or comparative absence of light.

Corpus desk

Index EN-darkness · darkness · English

darkness · rank #4,294 · 11 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,294
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH craft

Nearest frequency peer: craft (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “darkness”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “darkness” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

darkness vs dryness
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for darkness
PropertyValue
Headworddarkness
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈdɑːknəs/
Letters8
Frequency rank#4,294
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “darkness” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).darknesslands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “craft” (#4,293), “deeper” (#4,295), “cooperation” (#4,292). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around darkness (IPA /ˈdɑːknəs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #4,294 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 10 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for darkness, with forms such as "adrkness", "dakrness", and "darkenss". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "dryness", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English derknesse, from Old English deorcnes; equivalent to dark + -ness. The correct English form is darkness, spelled D-A-R-K-N-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    The state of being dark; lack of light; the absolute or comparative absence of light.
  2. 2
    The state or quality of reflecting little light, of tending to a blackish or brownish color.
  3. 3
    Any space that such colour pervades.
  4. 4
    Gloom; gloominess; depression.
  5. 5
    The product of being dark.
  6. 6
    Lack of understanding or compassion; spiritual or mental blindness.
  7. 7
    Secrecy; concealment.
  8. 8
    Lack of knowledge; obscurity or meaning or intelligibility; the unknown.
  9. 9
    Nothingness, vanity, emptiness.
  10. 10
    Hell.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how darkness appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The darkness of the room made it difficult to see.
  2. Over everything was darkness and thick silence, and the smell of dust and sunflowers.

Etymology

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

Synonyms

dark

Antonyms

lightnesslight

This word in other languages

oscuridad(Español)obscurité(Français)Dunkelheit(Deutsch)escuridão(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • adrkness
  • dakrness
  • darkenss
  • darkkness
  • darknes
  • darknness
  • darknses
  • darnkess
  • darrkness
  • ddarkness
  • drakness

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of darkness - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

adrkness2dakrness2darkenss2darkkness1darknes1darknness1darknses2darnkess2
Edit distance from "darkness"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "darkness"?
"darkness" is spelled D-A-R-K-N-E-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈdɑːknəs/.
What does "darkness" mean?
As a noun, "darkness" means: The state of being dark; lack of light; the absolute or comparative absence of light.
What words are commonly confused with "darkness"?
"darkness" is commonly confused with "dryness". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "darkness"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "darkness" is /ˈdɑːknəs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "darkness"?
From Middle English derknesse, from Old English deorcnes; equivalent to dark + -ness. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "darkness", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

calendar#4,288hardware#4,307unlikely#4,279Kentucky#4,313

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

secrets11 variantsMinnesota11 variantsLincoln11 variantsawkward11 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "darkness". Here's where to go from here.

  • This headword has one recorded confusable pair with "dryness". View pair
  • 11 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #4,294 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "D" letter cohort. D–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list