Word.ws English Dictionary

darkened

Syllables: dark·ened/ˈdɑːkənd/US/ˈdɑɹkənd/

darkened is the simple past and past participle of darken.

Adjective

darkened (not comparable)

  1. Made dark or lightproof by the exclusion of light.
  2. Having an absence of light, such as at night-time.
    • Far less straightforward was what happened at about 0130 on Friday June 2 1944, as a long goods train was chuffing and clanking its unhurried way across the darkened landscape towards Soham, from Ely.2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 42
    Synonyms:
    embrowned

Meaning of darken

Verb

darken (third-person singular simple present darkens, present participle darkening, simple past and past participle darkened)

  1. (transitive) To make dark or darker by reducing light.
    • […] they [locusts] covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened […]1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 10:15
  2. (intransitive) To become dark or darker (having less light).
    • […] the owl and the bat flew round the darkening trees:1783, William Blake, “The Couch of Death”, in Richard Herne Shepherd, editor, Poetical Sketches, London: Basil Montagu Pickering, published 1868, page 84
    Synonyms:
    blacken, mirken, swarten
  3. (impersonal) To get dark (referring to the sky, either in the evening or as a result of cloud).
    • Well, I must go in now; and you too: it darkens.1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter XV, in Jane Eyre. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 289
    Synonyms:
    dusk
  4. (transitive) To make dark or darker in colour.
    • She puts on lipstick and darkens her eyebrows, which are now very scanty […]2009, Alice Munro, “Free Radicals”, in Too Much Happiness, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, page 118
  5. (intransitive) To become dark or darker in colour.
    • The lovely hair had lost its rose-gold glimmer, and had darkened to rose-brown […]1979, Mary Stewart, The Last Enchantment, New York: Fawcett Crest, Book 4, Chapter 4, p. 405
    Synonyms:
    darkle
  6. (transitive) To render gloomy, darker in mood.
    • With these forced thoughts, I prithee, darken not
      The mirth o’ the feast.c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...

See all 12 meanings of darken

Synonyms of darkened

Words formed from darkened

Phrases with darkened

Questions about darkened

What does darkened mean?
Darkened means made dark or lightproof by the exclusion of light.
What is darkened the simple past and past participle of?
Darkened is the simple past and past participle of darken.
What part of speech is darkened?
Darkened is an adjective.
How do you pronounce darkened?
Darkened is pronounced /ˈdɑɹkənd/ (US).

Words near darkened in the dictionary

  1. darken down
  2. darken someone's door
  3. darken someone's doorstep
  4. darken someone's doorway
  5. darken up
  6. darkened
  7. darkened a church door
  8. darkened down
  9. darkened someone's door
  10. darkened up
  11. darkenedst

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: darkened (page history and authors); darken (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-darkened.wav.

Cite this entry: “darkened.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/darkened. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.