darks
darks — 形容詞
1. with little or no light, so that things are hard to see or look black.
黑暗的
光線少或無光的環境
with little or no light, so that things are hard to see or look black.
Christopher carried a small torch because the cellar was very dark.
Christopher 帶了一支小手電筒，因為地下室裡非常黑。
predicative use: be + dark for ambient light level
The narrow hallway looked dark even at noon, with no windows on either side.
那條窄走廊兩側都沒有窗戶，連中午看起來都很暗。
Beatrix lit two candles after the power went out and the kitchen turned dark.
停電後 Beatrix 點了兩根蠟燭，廚房整個變黑了。
Mizuki refused to walk home alone once the street had gone dark.
街道一變暗，Mizuki 就不肯一個人走回家。
- dim
less complete absence of light; some light remains
- unlit
specifically lacking artificial light
- pitch-black
stronger: total absence of light
用法筆記
Frequently predicative with stative or change-of-state verbs (be, get, grow, go, turn). When used attributively, often paired with concrete nouns of place such as room, alley, sky, forest.
常見錯誤
2. describing a colour, hair, skin, or eyes that contains a lot of black and is clo
深色的
顏色或膚髮接近黑色的
describing a colour, hair, skin, or eyes that contains a lot of black and is closer to black than to white.
Yael chose a dark green jacket to wear at her sister's winter wedding.
Yael 挑了一件深綠色的外套，準備去妹妹的冬季婚禮穿。
attributive: dark + colour-name as a modifier
Pim has dark brown eyes that look almost black under streetlights.
Pim 有一雙深棕色的眼睛，在路燈下幾乎看起來像黑色。
The painter mixed white into the dark blue until the wall looked like the evening sky.
畫家把白色調進深藍色，直到牆面看起來像傍晚的天空。
Kwame's dark curly hair is just like his grandfather's in the old family photo.
Kwame 那頭深色捲髮，跟爺爺在老照片裡一模一樣。
Most of Kasia's winter clothes are dark, so dust shows up easily on them.
Kasia 冬天的衣服大多是深色的，灰塵很容易看得出來。
用法筆記
Distinguishes from sense 1 by describing the colour or pigmentation of an object, not the level of ambient light. Common compound modifiers: dark green, dark brown, dark blue, dark hair, dark skin.
常見錯誤
3. showing or coming from cruel, harmful, or morally bad qualities in a person or f
邪惡的
源自殘酷或道德敗壞特質
showing or coming from cruel, harmful, or morally bad qualities in a person or force.
The novel explores the dark side of village life behind its quiet, friendly image.
這本小說探討這座村莊在友善表象背後的黑暗面。
fixed phrase: the dark side of [something]
Tanvi was shocked when she discovered the dark history of the museum's founder.
Tanvi 發現博物館創辦人那段黑暗的歷史時非常震驚。
Ramón keeps writing villains with dark motives that he half understands himself.
Ramón 一直在寫一些動機陰暗、連他自己都不太懂的反派。
Behind the senator's polite smile, the journalists suspected dark intentions about the new law.
在那位參議員的客氣笑容背後，記者懷疑他對新法案有陰暗的意圖。
用法筆記
Subject is usually an abstract noun (side, history, motive, intention, secret), not a person directly. Distinguish from sense 4 (gloomy mood): sense 3 is about moral evil, sense 4 is about emotional gloom.
常見錯誤
4. feeling sad and without hope, or describing a time, mood, or story that makes pe
陰鬱的
令人感到悲傷或無望的氛圍
feeling sad and without hope, or describing a time, mood, or story that makes people feel that way.
After the funeral, Zayd fell into a dark mood that lasted for weeks.
葬禮過後，Zayd 陷入一種陰鬱的情緒，持續了好幾個星期。
collocation: dark mood / dark thoughts for low feelings
The film paints a dark picture of life in a small fishing town in winter.
這部電影描繪了一個小漁村冬天生活的陰鬱景象。
Rachid wrote a dark novel about a hospital where everyone is slowly forgotten.
Rachid 寫了一部陰鬱的小說，講一間病人會慢慢被遺忘的醫院。
These have been dark times for the city's small bookshops since the floods.
自從那場水災之後，對這個城市的小書店來說一直是陰鬱的時期。
- gloomy
low-spirited; often about weather or mood
- bleak
stronger: little hope of improvement
- depressing
causes low mood in others
用法筆記
Object of description is usually a mood, a period of time, or a work of art (mood, times, period, film, novel, comedy). Distinguish from sense 3 (evil): sense 4 is depressive or gloomy, not necessarily morally wrong.
常見錯誤
5. lacking knowledge, learning, or cultural understanding; typical of an era when e
蒙昧的
缺乏知識或文化教養的時代
lacking knowledge, learning, or cultural understanding; typical of an era when education and reason were not widespread.
Historians once called the early medieval centuries a dark age of lost learning.
歷史學家曾把中世紀早期幾個世紀稱為學問失落的蒙昧時代。
fixed phrase: a dark age (singular) / the Dark Ages
Nia argued that no whole society is truly dark, only badly recorded by its winners.
Nia 主張，沒有哪個社會真的蒙昧，只是被勝利者寫得不好。
Many villages remained dark in the eyes of the new school inspectors from the capital.
在首都派來的新督學眼中，許多村莊仍然是蒙昧的。
Élise hates the word 'dark' applied to peoples whose science we simply failed to read.
Élise 討厭把「蒙昧」用在那些我們只是讀不懂其科學的民族身上。
- unenlightened
matches the formal register of sense 5
- benighted
literary; same idea of lacking education
- uncivilised
stronger and often considered offensive today
- enlightened
having reason and education
- learned
well-educated, often in scholarship
用法筆記
Formal and now often criticised; the noun phrase 'Dark Ages' (capitalised) remains the most common form. Avoid applying this sense to living cultures — modern readers find it pejorative.
常見錯誤
6. hard to understand or find out about, either because no one has explored it or b
晦澀的
難以理解或尚未被探索的
hard to understand or find out about, either because no one has explored it or because the meaning is hidden.
Kevin enjoys hiking through the darker valleys of the national park, far from the marked trails.
Kevin 喜歡走進國家公園裡那些較少人到的山谷，遠離標示好的步道。
comparative: dark + corner / valley / forest for unexplored areas
The poet's final lines remain dark to most students, even after a full term of study.
那位詩人的最後幾行，對大多數學生來說即使讀了一整學期還是很晦澀。
predicative: dark to + reader, for hard-to-interpret texts
Minh's notes on the project are dark in places, full of arrows and half-finished thoughts.
Minh 的專案筆記有些地方很晦澀，充滿箭頭和半寫完的想法。
Astronomers keep mapping the dark corners of the southern sky where no probe has flown.
天文學家仍持續描繪南方天空中那些尚未有探測器抵達的未知角落。
- obscure
of meaning: hard to grasp
- uncharted
of places: not yet mapped
- impenetrable
stronger: cannot be understood at all
用法筆記
Often modifies space-nouns (corner, valley, region) for 'unexplored', or text-nouns (passage, line, meaning) for 'hard to interpret'. Distinguish from sense 7 (secret): sense 6 is about something nobody understands or has reached; sense 7 is about something deliberately hidden.
常見錯誤
7. kept hidden from other people, usually because the truth would be shameful or ha
不可告人的
刻意隱藏、帶有羞恥的
kept hidden from other people, usually because the truth would be shameful or harmful.
Lucía finally told her brother the dark secret she had carried since high school.
Lucía 終於把她從高中就一直藏著的不可告人的祕密告訴了哥哥。
fixed phrase: dark secret + carry / keep / reveal
The old farmhouse seemed to hold dark secrets about the family who built it.
那棟老農舍似乎藏著建造它那家人的種種不可告人的祕密。
Saira's dark past as a forger only came out during the trial last spring.
Saira 過去當偽造文書的不光彩經歷，是去年春天審判時才被掀出來的。
Politicians often promise transparency while keeping dark deals with private companies.
政治人物常一邊談透明，一邊和私人公司做不可告人的交易。
用法筆記
Object is something the speaker considers shameful or scandalous (secret, past, deal, history). Distinguish from sense 3 (evil): sense 7 emphasises concealment, even if the hidden thing is only embarrassing rather than fully wicked.
常見錯誤
8. of a theatre, cinema, or club: closed for the evening with no show, screening, o
休演的
劇院當天不演出、不開場
of a theatre, cinema, or club: closed for the evening with no show, screening, or event for the public.
The Lyric Theatre is dark on Mondays so the cleaners can deep-clean the seats.
Lyric 劇院每週一休演，這樣清潔人員才能徹底打掃座位。
predicative: be dark + day-of-week for venue closures
Nora was disappointed to find the small jazz club dark on her first night in town.
Nora 來到這座城的第一晚，就發現那家小爵士俱樂部當晚休演，相當失望。
Most West End theatres stayed dark through the long pandemic spring of 2020.
西區大多數劇院在 2020 年那個漫長疫情春天裡，幾乎一直處於休演狀態。
The cinema's marquee was unlit, and the lobby was dark for the whole holiday week.
電影院的看板沒亮，整個放假週的大廳也都是熄燈休映的狀態。
- open
running shows for the public
用法筆記
Industry term in theatre, cinema, and live music. Almost always predicative ('the theatre is dark', 'the venue went dark'); rarely attributive.
常見錯誤
darks — 名詞
1. the state of having no light, treated as a thing you can be in, hide in, or be a
黑暗
沒有光線的狀態
the state of having no light, treated as a thing you can be in, hide in, or be afraid of.
Christopher's little daughter is still afraid of the dark and sleeps with a small lamp on.
Christopher 的小女兒仍然怕黑，要開著一盞小燈才能睡。
fixed phrase: afraid of the dark
Yael could just make out the shape of a fox in the dark beyond the garden fence.
在花園圍籬外的黑暗中，Yael 勉強看出一隻狐狸的身影。
in + the + dark for the spatial sense
The campers sat around the fire and told ghost stories long after dark had fallen.
天黑很久之後，露營的人還坐在火堆旁繼續講鬼故事。
Beatrix waited in the dark for over an hour before the rescue team finally arrived.
Beatrix 在黑暗中等了一個多小時，救難隊才終於趕到。
文法句型
the dark
in the dark
afraid of the dark
用法筆記
Usually with the definite article ('the dark') and uncountable. Common fixed phrases: in the dark (literal or 'uninformed'), after dark, before dark, afraid of the dark.
常見錯誤
2. the period of the day when the sun has set and outdoor places are not lit by the
天黑後
日落後沒有日光的時段
the period of the day when the sun has set and outdoor places are not lit by the sun.
Mizuki's parents told her to come home before dark or call them for a lift.
Mizuki 的父母叫她在天黑前回家，或是打電話請他們去接。
fixed phrase: before dark for end of daylight
The market in Bangkok only really wakes up after dark, when the food stalls open.
曼谷的市場要到天黑之後攤位開始營業，才真的熱鬧起來。
fixed phrase: after dark for evening hours
Pim drove for two hours after dark on a road with no streetlights at all.
Pim 在一條完全沒有路燈的路上天黑後開了兩個小時的車。
Most birds in the garden stop singing as dark approaches in late autumn.
深秋時節，花園裡多數鳥兒會在天色將暗時停止鳴叫。
文法句型
after dark
before dark
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1: sense 1 is the state of being unlit (you can sit 'in the dark' in a closed cinema at noon); sense 2 is the part of the day after sunset.
常見錯誤
3. a deep or low-lightness colour, especially one used in painting, photography, or
暗部
畫面或影像中的深色區域
a deep or low-lightness colour, especially one used in painting, photography, or print to give weight or contrast.
Kwame mixed his darks first so the highlights in the portrait would feel even brighter.
Kwame 先調出畫面的暗部，這樣肖像上的高光才會顯得更亮。
countable plural: darks of a painting
The printer adjusted the darks until the photo of Tanvi's wedding finally looked rich.
印刷師調整了暗部，Tanvi 婚禮的照片才終於看起來色調飽滿。
Ramón loves the deep darks in old Spanish oil paintings of cooks and kitchens.
Ramón 很喜歡西班牙古典油畫中描繪廚師和廚房的深沉暗部。
In editing, Kasia pulled the darks down a little to hide the noise in the night sky.
Kasia 在後製時把暗部往下調一點，藏住夜空照片裡的雜訊。
- shadows
the dark areas of an image
- deep tones
less technical alternative
- highlights
the bright areas of an image
- lights
the pale tones in a painting
文法句型
the darks of a painting
用法筆記
Common in art, photography, and printing as a countable noun, usually plural ('the darks'). Distinguish from sense 4 (clothing): sense 3 refers to dark tones in an image; sense 4 refers to dark-coloured clothes for laundry.
常見錯誤
4. items of clothing that are dark in colour, taken as a group to be washed separat
深色衣物
和白色分開洗的深色衣服
items of clothing that are dark in colour, taken as a group to be washed separately from white or pale clothes.
Zayd put all his darks into one load so the new red towel would not bleed onto his shirts.
Zayd 把所有深色衣物丟成一桶，免得那條新的紅毛巾把他的襯衫染色。
fixed collocation: wash / sort the darks
Rachid sorts the family laundry into darks, whites, and delicates every Sunday morning.
Rachid 每個星期天早上會把家裡的衣服分成深色、白色和需要輕柔洗的三類。
Nia uses cold water for the darks so the colours stay bright for longer.
Nia 用冷水洗深色衣物，讓顏色可以維持鮮亮比較久。
Élise's washing machine has a special cycle just for darks and another for towels.
Élise 的洗衣機有一個專門洗深色衣物的程式，另一個專門洗毛巾。
- dark clothes
longer, more explicit form
- coloureds
British: includes non-white clothing more broadly
- whites
the plural-only opposite for laundry
文法句型
the darks
wash the darks
用法筆記
Always plural ('darks', never '*a dark' in this sense) and almost always with the definite article. Standard household-laundry vocabulary alongside 'whites' and 'delicates'.
常見錯誤
darks — 動詞
1. to grow dim or lose light; to become darker in colour or mood. Used mainly in ol
變暗
文學用法：逐漸變黑或暗
to grow dim or lose light; to become darker in colour or mood. Used mainly in older or literary writing.
As the sky darks, Kevin stops painting and packs his easel into the car.
天色一變暗，Kevin 就停下畫畫，把畫架收進車裡。
literary intransitive: subject + darks for fading light
The lake darks under a passing cloud, then shines bright again a minute later.
湖面在一片飄過的雲下變暗，過一分鐘又重新亮了起來。
Minh felt her mood dark as the long meeting dragged into a third hour.
會議拖到第三個小時，Minh 感覺自己的心情也跟著變暗了。
Lucía wrote that the forest darks early in November, well before the city does.
Lucía 寫道，森林在十一月就變暗了，比城市裡早得多。
文法句型
sky/room + darks
用法筆記
Very rare in modern English; most speakers use 'darken' or 'grow dark' instead. Found chiefly in older poetry and stylised prose. Subjects are usually places, the sky, or moods.
常見錯誤
2. to cause something to lose light, hue, or hope; to make a place, colour, or mood
使變暗
文學用法：讓場景或情緒變暗
to cause something to lose light, hue, or hope; to make a place, colour, or mood darker.
Saira draws thick curtains to dark the room before her afternoon migraines start.
在午後偏頭痛發作之前，Saira 會把厚窗簾拉上，讓房間變暗。
literary transitive: dark + room / sky / mood
Storm clouds darked the whole valley within ten minutes of crossing the ridge.
暴風雲越過山脊不到十分鐘，就讓整個山谷變得一片陰暗。
Nora's news from home darked her father's birthday lunch in an instant.
Nora 從家裡傳來的消息，一瞬間讓父親的生日午餐變得陰沉。
The painter darked the corners of the canvas to push the figures toward the centre.
畫家把畫布四角壓暗，好把人物推向中央。
文法句型
dark + something
用法筆記
Very rare in modern English; 'darken' is the standard transitive verb. Use sense 2 only when echoing literary or older registers, or for stylistic effect.