darkly
Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈdɑːkli/
  • (GA) IPA: /ˈdɑɹkli/
Adverb

darkly (comparative darklier, superlative darkliest)

  1. With a dark#Adjective|dark appearance.
    Synonyms: blackly, sably
  2. Faintly seen in the dark.
    I could make out his image darkly.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, 1 Corinthians 1:12 ↗:
      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.
  3. (figuratively) In a morbid manner; morbidly, sinisterly.
    a darkly comic dystopian drama
    • 1814, Lord Byron, The Corsair, a Tale, London: Printed by Thomas Davison, […], for John Murray, […], OCLC 1061889661 ↗, canto I, stanza IX, lines 225–228, page 12 ↗:
      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!
  4. (figuratively) Mysteriously; forebodingly, ominously.
    Synonyms: threateningly
    • 1849, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1850, OCLC 3968433 ↗, canto CXXVII, page 199 ↗:
      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.
    • 1859 November 26 – 1860 August 25, [William] Wilkie Collins, “Hartright’s Narrative”, in The Woman in White. A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, Franklin Square, published 1860, OCLC 558180353 ↗, part II, section IX, page 212 ↗, column 1:
      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.
Translations Translations


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