Darkening

noun, verb

noun, verb ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act of something becoming darker. countable, uncountable

    "At last the first glimpse from a bridge of an open-top red bus, and a noticeable darkening of the atmosphere from the smoke of London: then the increasingly dingy stations with double-barrel names, set amid what has always been to me the outstanding feature of the "Premier Line" approach to London—the positively marvellous display of crazy chimney-pots on the grey inner suburban houses. As many as twenty, all of varying style, standing together like ranks of jagged teeth, and providing a Dickensian back-cloth which no other route can boast."

  2. 2
    changing to a darker color wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of darken form-of, gerund, participle, present
Adjective
  1. 1
    becoming dark or darker as from waning light or clouding over wordnet

Example

More examples

"“This, then,” he said, “is the ancient Castle of Wolf's Crag, often mentioned in the Scottish records,” looking to the old tower, then darkening under the influence of a stormy cloud, that formed its background."

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.