How to Use darken in a Sentence

darken

verb
  • The wood will darken as it ages.
  • The bad news darkened his mood.
  • The sky darkened and it started to rain.
  • The last days of her life were darkened by illness.
  • His mood darkened after he heard the bad news.
  • Her face darkens to a deep red when she gets angry.
  • Yet as the day darkens to evening, Taylor still has plenty to say.
    Raisa Bruner, Time, 6 Feb. 2020
  • Palm fronds riffled in the hot breeze as the sky darkened and the air smelled, mysteriously, of salad dressing.
    Rachel Monroe, The New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2024
  • Downey played a white actor who has undergone a skin-darkening procedure for the role of a black soldier in the spoof of the movie industry.
    NBC News, 22 Jan. 2020
  • Later in the season the story darkens as the church faces possibly existential threats from inside and out.
    Mike Hale, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2020
  • But the plot soon darkens as its hero becomes a kind of street urchin, mingling with migrant workers, beggars, victims of famine, and even thugs who try to kidnap him.
    Ratik Asokan, The New York Review of Books, 25 Jan. 2020
  • Snow reduces light penetration on the ice, and a thick blanket of snow can dramatically darken the water column.
    Outdoor Life, 17 Jan. 2020
  • The visor has a clear LCD panel that selectively darkens to keep the driver's vision free of the sun's glare.
    Colin Beresford, Car and Driver, 6 Jan. 2020
  • In response, SpaceX came up with a darkening treatment to lessen reflectivity.
    Washington Post, 7 Jan. 2020
  • These sightings usually took place in the evening, when the setting sun reflected off the craft’s silver wings, creating the effect of a fiery bolt moving across darkened the sky.
    Jordan Runtagh, PEOPLE.com, 13 Jan. 2020
  • All of it exacted a toll on Sullivan, sharpening his elbows ever so slightly and darkening the circles under his sleepless eyes.
    Issie Lapowsky, WIRED, 10 Oct. 2024
  • The lights darkened in the arena save for a purple spotlight on two Lakers jerseys bearing Bryant’s numbers of 8 and 24 hanging above.
    NBC News, 1 Feb. 2020
  • The face of a young Uighur woman working in a clothing shop in Hotan darkened when asked whether locals previously sent to re-education camps had since been released.
    Philip Wen, WSJ, 6 Feb. 2020
  • New Zealand is currently receiving the brunt of this smoke, which is causing severe air quality issues and even darkening snow on the country's mountaintops.
    Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 14 Jan. 2020
  • The skies lightened and then darkened again in the evening.
    Martin Finucane, BostonGlobe.com, 23 Aug. 2023
  • The outlook for the rest of the year may darken further.
    New York Times, 29 Apr. 2022
  • The wind picked up in the afternoon and the sky darkened.
    Sanaë Lemoine, Harper's Magazine, 2 Feb. 2024
  • As the sky darkened and flames swept down the hill, a tree branch hit Sheffield in the leg.
    Miguel Almaguer, NBC News, 11 Aug. 2023
  • The rooms are darkened, and there’s space for parents to stay overnight.
    Matthew Casey, The Arizona Republic, 9 Feb. 2024
  • Ndlovu’s father gripped the steering wheel as the sun set and the sky darkened.
    Tracey Lindeman, WIRED, 19 Aug. 2023
  • The skies darkened, and a very light rain drizzled down.
    Lauren Groff, Harper's magazine, 1 Mar. 2020
  • Where the arena will darken, then lights shine down on the mat, the two wrestlers alone with nowhere to hide.
    Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Jan. 2023
  • When the moon passes between the sun and the earth, the sky darkens as the face of the sun is blocked entirely.
    Ria Gupta, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Feb. 2024
  • But that afternoon, the sky darkened and the wind howled.
    Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, 7 Aug. 2024
  • The darkening outlook has pulled crude prices down more than 10% in the past month.
    David Uberti, WSJ, 14 Mar. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'darken.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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