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darken

verb

Simple meaning

To cloud, obscure.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

dahrkuhn

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈdɑɹkən

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. transitive

    To make dark or darker by reducing light.

  2. intransitive

    To become dark or darker (having less light).

  3. intransitive

    To become dark or darker in colour.

  4. transitive

    To make dark or darker in colour.

  5. intransitive

    To become gloomy, darker in mood.

  6. transitive

    To render gloomy, darker in mood.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Frequency
Rare
Typical Use
Primarily written

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To make dark or darker by reducing light.

Used this way, darken is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use darken

  • “A scandal that darkened the family's good name.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

eyes darkendarken counselface darkengradually darken

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • darkeningnounInflected form

    Changing to a darker color.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.