1
as in to frown
to take on a gloomy or forbidding look
his face slowly darkened as we told him the sad news
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
3
as in to obscure
to make dark, dim, or indistinct
years of accumulated grime have darkened the painting until it can barely be seen
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in to mar
to affect slightly with something morally bad or undesirable
the scandal darkened his otherwise sterling reputation
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of darken
The artwork required 10 prototypes to get right, and is made from stainless steel that was darkened using a process called physical vapor deposition, with contour lines engraved into the bright metal beneath.
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Tim Pitt, Robb Report, 25 Oct. 2024
The weather is darkening, the leaves are falling and the zombies are nearing your doorstep.
—Annalise Frank, Axios, 21 Oct. 2024
All of it exacted a toll on Sullivan, sharpening his elbows ever so slightly and darkening the circles under his sleepless eyes.
—Issie Lapowsky, WIRED, 10 Oct. 2024
Palm fronds riffled in the hot breeze as the sky darkened and the air smelled, mysteriously, of salad dressing.
—Rachel Monroe, The New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for darken 
Tim Pitt, Robb Report, 25 Oct. 2024
The weather is darkening, the leaves are falling and the zombies are nearing your doorstep.
—Annalise Frank, Axios, 21 Oct. 2024
All of it exacted a toll on Sullivan, sharpening his elbows ever so slightly and darkening the circles under his sleepless eyes.
—Issie Lapowsky, WIRED, 10 Oct. 2024
Palm fronds riffled in the hot breeze as the sky darkened and the air smelled, mysteriously, of salad dressing.
—Rachel Monroe, The New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for darken
Recent Examples of Synonyms for darken
Verb
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What Wyler is frowning about, past this threat to her own ambition — that’s less coherent.Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 13 Nov. 2024
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In all three cases, Google is fighting desperately to avoid being broken up as a monopoly, and judges have frowned deeply upon its handling of evidence.Ethan Baron, The Mercury News, 10 Nov. 2024
Verb
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That paycheck or applause fades into the background as soon as a bigger challenge arises.Akin Akinpelu, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024
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Hopes are fading for those that remain missing, however.Atika Shubert, CNN, 4 Nov. 2024
Verb
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But this focus on labor obscures the fact that slavery also represented enormous wealth that was extraordinarily liquid: an enslaved person represented cash that could be forced to work, forced to breed, forced to relocate.Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 3 Nov. 2024
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The crowd trickled back to their cars, deep time obscured by darkness.Lane Sainty, The Arizona Republic, 3 Nov. 2024
Verb
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Bell's attempt to salvage his playoff hopes by overtaking Bubba Wallace was marred by Wallace's deceleration due to a potential tire issue.David Faris, Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2024
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Still, Moldovan officials are braced for a second round of voting marred by pro-Russian meddling.Christian Edwards, CNN, 2 Nov. 2024
Verb
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The traditional media business has been staring at these multiple roads for years now, and none of them are anywhere near as bucolic as Frost’s woods.Howard Homonoff, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2024
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Most of Mars’s subjects stare straight into her lens.Paige Williams, The New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2024
Verb
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On a Saturday afternoon in early July, the clouds blackened above Hampton Court Palace, southwest of London.Sophie Elmhirst, The New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2024
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The other, taken just after the October 7 attack, shows the same homes blackened and destroyed in the militants’ rampage.Matthew Chance, CNN, 6 Oct. 2024
Verb
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Simply sweep on your favorite hue with your finger tips and blend at the crease for blurred, yet vivid color in seconds.Beatrice Zocchi, Vogue, 5 Nov. 2024
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His transformation is both physical and psychological, a deterioration that blurs humanity and monstrosity, pushing boundaries of on-screen horror with a level of realism enhanced by Chris Walas’ groundbreaking practical effects, which garnered an Academy Award for Best Makeup.Matt Grobar, Deadline, 4 Nov. 2024
Verb
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Dodge won't spoil the surprise by confirming if the last one will be based on the Charger or the Challenger (or maybe both), but the evidence suggests the latter is more likely.Jack Fitzgerald, Car and Driver, 13 Feb. 2023
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Farmers’ broiler chickens suffocate, and dairy products spoil.Monica Mark, The Christian Science Monitor, 10 Feb. 2023
Thesaurus Entries Near darken
Cite this Entry
“Darken.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/darken. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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