darkly
Syllables: dark·lyUK/ˈdɑːkli/US/ˈdɑɹkli/
darkly adverb: with insufficient light for easy discernment or comprehension.
Adverb
darkly (comparative darklier or more darkly, superlative darkliest or most darkly)
- With insufficient light for easy discernment or comprehension.
- I could make out his image darkly.
- For now we ſee through a glaſſe darkley: but then face to face: now I know in part, but then ſhall I know euen as alſo I am knowen.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Corinthians 1:12
- With a dark appearance.
- And still when loudliest howls the storm, / And darkliest lowers his native sky, / The king's fierce soul is in that form, / The warrior's spirit threatens nigh!1846, R[obert] S[tephen] Hawker, “The Wreck”, in Echoes from Old Cornwall, London: Joseph Masters, […], →OCLC, stanza X, page 76
- Darkly painted machinery takes a great deal of light out of a shop; the rays seem to be absorbed into the somber pigments.1906 October 4, “Light Colors for Machine Tools”, in Charles Kirchhoff, Geo[rge] W. Cope, A. I. Findley, editors, The Iron Age, volume LXXVIII, New York, N.Y.: David Williams Company […], →OCLC, page...
- In a manner which is not readily visible or noticeable; inconspicuously.
- Set defenses permitted a coach to plan an attack with scant worry as to where he would find the offensive men. So our Tom Reilly schemed darkly and came up with the attack which pried apart the Brown Bowlers. His scheme was to double team every man in the defensive line by employing one back as an...1964, Stanley Woodward, Paper Tiger: An Old Sportswriter's Reminiscences of People, Newspapers, War and Work, chapter 3, page 33 of the 2007 University of Nebraska Press paperback edition
- Synonyms:
- anonymously, obscurely, unapparently, unnoticeably
- In a manner which retards or prevents discernment; clandestinely.
- His secret wooing of the Norman lady who was so proud and stately was very dear to him, and the romance of it pleased him even more than the mere material joys he hoped some day to gain from it. Proud as she was, womanlike she at least deigned to listen to him, and his crafty brain schemed darkly...1907, Cyril Ranger Gull as Guy Thorne, The Serf, chapter 5
- As for thee, false friend, subtle fox, unfaithful servant, this long time am I grown weary of thee slinking up and down my palace devising darkly things I know not: […]1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 24
- Synonyms:
- covertly, furtively, inconspicuously, secretly, stealthily, surreptitiously
- In a manner which is difficult to understand, or which retards or prevents understanding; incomprehensibly.
- Secondly, The Covenant was then revealed more darkly and obſcurely, but now the diſpenſation of it, is more cleare and evident: the light is now marvellous, it is as the Sunne ſhining at noone-day. […] Though it was revealed before, yet it was but darkly, but now it is revealed more clearly ſince...1651, Peter Bulkeley [i.e., Peter Bulkley], “The Second Difference, that the One was More Dark, the Other Gives Clearer Light”, in The Gospel-covenant; or, The Covenant of Grace Opened. […], 2nd...
- Strange friend, past, present, and to be, / Loved deeplier, darklier understood; / Behold I dream a dream of good / And mingle all the world with thee.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto CXXVII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 199
- Synonyms:
- fathomlessly, inscrutably, mysteriously, obscurely, vaguely
- In a manner which tends to produce uncertainty or confusion; bewilderingly.
- Here, as Genevieve sat musing, in apparent slumber, on her situation of peril, and her hope of liberty, her sentinels, who had hitherto walked at a surly distance from her, now chanced to pass nearer; and she heard one of them say, “She sleeps, thou need'st not whisper; -I tell thee it must be done...1824, Charles Robert Maturin, The Albigenses, chapter 16
- Synonyms:
- bafflingly, perplexingly, puzzlingly
- In a manner which produces an inward conviction of future misfortune; ominously.
- But the God I had cried to answer me / When my destiny darkliest frowned, / And He showed me a reef of rocks in the sea, / Whereunto I clung, and there I found / On a coral jag the goblet of gold, / Which else to the lowermost crypt had rolled.1845, Friedrich Schiller, “The Diver. A Ballad.”, in James Clarence Mangan, transl., Anthologia Germanica. German Anthology: A Series of Translations from the Most Popular of the German Poets. … In...
- Certain portions of the conversation of the talkative old clerk, which had wearied me at the time, now recurred to my memory with a new significance; and a suspicion crossed my mind darkly, which had not occurred to me while I was in the vestry.1859 November 26 – 1860 August 25, [William] Wilkie Collins, “Hartright’s Narrative”, in The Woman in White. […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], published 1860, →OCLC, part II, section IX...
- Synonyms:
- forebodingly, threateningly
- In a morbid manner; morbidly, sinisterly.
- a darkly comic dystopian drama
- There was a laughing Devil in his sneer, / That raised emotions both of rage and fear; / And where his frown of hatred darkly fell, / Hope withering fled—and Mercy sighed farewell!1814, Lord Byron, “Canto I”, in The Corsair, a Tale, London: […] Thomas Davison, […], for John Murray, […], →OCLC, stanza IX, page 12, lines 225–228
Adjective
darkly (comparative darklier or more darkly, superlative darkliest or most darkly)
Examples of darkly in a sentence
- In the reddish mist his shadow flitted darkly across the mirrors on the walls.1930, Ivan Lukash, chapter VIII, in Natalie Duddington, transl., The Flames of Moscow: Translated from the Russian, London: Peter Davies...
- Under the south wind, rock ribs, black and shiny, melted off their snow caps and showed up darkly against the white.1930, Alice Alison Lide, Margaret Alison Johansen, chapter VIII, in Ood-le-uk the Wanderer, page 96:
- He saw how the candlesticks shone darkly in the vicinity of the diamond flames in Shevele's ears and on her silk dress collar.2016, Yehiel Yeshaia Trunk, chapter 21, in Anna Clarke, transl., edited by Piotr J. Wróbel and Robert M. Shapiro, Poyln: My Life within...
- So our Tom Reilly schemed darkly and came up with the attack which pried apart the Brown Bowlers.1964, Stanley Woodward, Paper Tiger: An Old Sportswriter's Reminiscences of People, Newspapers, War and Work, chapter 3, page 33 of the...
Synonyms of darkly
- blackly
- sably
- anonymously
- obscurely
- unapparently
- unnoticeably
- covertly
- furtively
- inconspicuously
- secretly
11 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of darkly
| Adverb | |
|---|---|
| comparative | darklier |
| comparative | more darkly |
| superlative | darkliest |
| superlative | most darkly |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | darklier |
| comparative | more darkly |
| superlative | darkliest |
| superlative | most darkly |
Origin of darkly
From Middle English derkly, derkely, derkliche, derkeliche; equivalent to dark + -ly. Compare Old English deorclīċe, a parallel formation.
From Middle English derkely, equivalent to dark + -ly.
Words that rhyme with darkly
Questions about darkly
- What does darkly mean?
- Darkly means with insufficient light for easy discernment or comprehension.
- How do you use darkly in a sentence?
- In the reddish mist his shadow flitted darkly across the mirrors on the walls.
- What part of speech is darkly?
- Darkly can be an adverb or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce darkly?
- Darkly is pronounced /ˈdɑːkli/ (UK).
Words near darkly in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: darkly (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: en-au-darkly.ogg.
Cite this entry: “darkly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/darkly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.