darkened; darkening
ˈdär-kə-niŋ 
1
: to grow dark : become obscured
the skies were darkening
2
: to become gloomy
his mood darkened
1
: to make dark
2
: to make less clear : obscure
the financial crisis darkened the future of the company
4
: to cast a gloom over
5
: to make of darker color
Examples of darken in a Sentence
The sky darkened and it started to rain.
Her face darkens to a deep red when she gets angry.
The wood will darken as it ages.
The bad news darkened his mood.
The last days of her life were darkened by illness.
His mood darkened after he heard the bad news.
Recent Examples on the Web
He’s made to sound like a hunk in a romance novel—heavily muscled, symmetrically proportioned, so frequently shirtless that his skin had darkened.
—
Boyce Upholt, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 June 2024
The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite sensor, or VIIRS, aboard the Suomi NPP satellite captured this image of Houston on May 18, after a derecho had darkened large swaths of the city with power outages.
—Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 30 May 2024
Look how the light seemingly appears and disappears out of nowhere, illuminating or darkening its subjects without announcing its source.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 18 Apr. 2024
Expect skies to darken as other phenomena take place throughout the afternoon.
—Marina Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 8 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for darken 
Boyce Upholt, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 June 2024
The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite sensor, or VIIRS, aboard the Suomi NPP satellite captured this image of Houston on May 18, after a derecho had darkened large swaths of the city with power outages.
—Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 30 May 2024
Look how the light seemingly appears and disappears out of nowhere, illuminating or darkening its subjects without announcing its source.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 18 Apr. 2024
Expect skies to darken as other phenomena take place throughout the afternoon.
—Marina Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 8 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for darken
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'darken.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near darken
Cite this Entry
“Darken.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/darken. Accessed 30 Jun. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
darken
verb
dark·en
ˈdär-kən
darkened; darkening
ˈdärk-(ə-)niŋ
1
: to make or grow dark or darker
the sky darkened
2
: to make or become gloomy or forbidding
her face darkened in anger
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share