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darkling

adv
/ˈdɑː(ɹ)klɪŋ/

Etymology

Coined by Irish poet Mary Tighe in 1805, likely as an extension of the adverbial sense, and popularized by John Keats.

  1. inherited from derkelyng

Definitions

  1. In the dark

    In the dark; in obscurity.

    • So, out went the candle, and we were left darkling.
    • As the wakeful bird sings darkling.
    • I had a dream, which was not all a dream. / The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars / Did wander darkling in the eternal space, / Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth / Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;

  2. Dark

    Dark; growing dark; darkening.

    • She still pursued its flight, with all the speed / Her fainting strength had hitherto supplied: / What pathless wilds she crossed ! What forests darkling wide !
    • May thine autumn calm, serene, / Never want some lingering flower, / Which Affection's hand may glean, / Though the darkling mists may lower !
    • And we are here as on a darkling plain Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, Where ignorant armies clash by night

  3. Obscure

    Obscure; taking place unseen, as if in the dark.

  4. ›+ 5 more definitions

    1. Darkness.

      • She carried some rugs for me through the shrubbery in the darkling. "They'll think we've gone mooning," she said, jerking her head at the household. "I wonder what they make of us – criminals."

    2. present participle and gerund of darkle

    3. A child of darkness

      A child of darkness; someone dark by nature or who has grown dark in character.

    4. A creature that lives in the dark.

    5. A demon.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for darkling. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA