darkened; darkening
ˈdär-kə-niŋ 
1
: to grow dark : become obscured
the skies were darkening
2
: to become gloomy
his mood darkened
1
: to make dark
2
: to make less clear : obscure
the financial crisis darkened the future of the company
4
: to cast a gloom over
5
: to make of darker color
Examples of darken in a Sentence
The sky darkened and it started to rain.
Her face darkens to a deep red when she gets angry.
The wood will darken as it ages.
The bad news darkened his mood.
The last days of her life were darkened by illness.
His mood darkened after he heard the bad news.
Recent Examples on the Web
The clouds are still in sunlight while the ground is darkening after the Sun sets.
—
Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 12 Feb. 2025
The ice sheet has thinned and darkened since the early 1990’s, especially around its edges….
—Rob Crossan, JSTOR Daily, 10 Feb. 2025
Sandstorms whip up hazardous lightning storms that darken the skies and rain electrical mayhem onto the dunes.
—Gabriel Zamora, PCMAG, 6 Feb. 2025
However, the success of what many Latinos consider a 21st-century minstrel show (complete with a European protagonist’s fair complexion conspicuously darkened to play Mexican) lies not in artistic license but a kind of cinematic arbitrage.
—Giancarlo Sopo, IndieWire, 3 Feb. 2025
See all Example Sentences for darken 
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Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 12 Feb. 2025
The ice sheet has thinned and darkened since the early 1990’s, especially around its edges….
—Rob Crossan, JSTOR Daily, 10 Feb. 2025
Sandstorms whip up hazardous lightning storms that darken the skies and rain electrical mayhem onto the dunes.
—Gabriel Zamora, PCMAG, 6 Feb. 2025
However, the success of what many Latinos consider a 21st-century minstrel show (complete with a European protagonist’s fair complexion conspicuously darkened to play Mexican) lies not in artistic license but a kind of cinematic arbitrage.
—Giancarlo Sopo, IndieWire, 3 Feb. 2025
See all Example Sentences for darken
Dictionary Entries Near darken
Cite this Entry
“Darken.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/darken. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
darken
verb
dark·en
ˈdär-kən
darkened; darkening
ˈdärk-(ə-)niŋ
1
: to make or grow dark or darker
the sky darkened
2
: to make or become gloomy or forbidding
her face darkened in anger
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