black dark
An Appalachian and Southern US expression for nighttime — specifically for pitch darkness, when it is completely dark outside.
Definitions
An Appalachian and Southern US expression for nighttime — specifically for pitch darkness, when it is completely dark outside. The double darkness intensifier ('black' + 'dark') is characteristic of Appalachian English's tendency toward expressive doubling. Used in rural speech to mean the dead of night or total darkness.
'It was black dark by the time we got off the mountain,' she said, 'and the flashlight was dead.'
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(slang, Southern US, Appalachian) nighttime.
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- dusky dark73%
(slang, Southern US, Appalachian, Gullah) dusk.
- dusky dark73%
A Southern US and Appalachian dialect expression for dusk — the period just after sunset when the sky dims but full dark hasn't arrived yet. The term is particularly associated with Gullah communities of the coastal Southeast. It has a poetic, doubling quality, pairing two near-synonyms to evoke the gradual fading of daylight. While rarely used today outside heritage or literary contexts, it captures an atmospheric moment with vivid economy.
- darktown66%
(US, dated) An African-American area of a city, especially in the American South.
- black64%
(of a location or setting) Without light.