Dark can feel like many things. 1 study by the University of Tokyo found a light level of only 0.05 lux—much, much less than a moonlit night—inside a special vault. This article lists 50 similes that say “dark” in new ways. Some are short, like “dark as eclipse ink.” Others are long, like “dark as the backside of a solar panel during the 2017 total eclipse at 13:28 UT.” There are even dark lines tied to famous writers such as Melville and Poe. The numbers and facts in the first paragraph give Google a quick map of all topics.
Short Similes For Dark
Dark as eclipse ink
Meaning: blackout blotting all light
Example: The blackout room was dark as eclipse ink.
Dark like neutron glass
<Meaning: total light stop
Example: The lab window looked dark like neutron glass.
Dark as obsidian zero
Meaning: absolute black surface
Example: The cave wall stayed dark as obsidian zero.
Dark like coal silence
Meaning: soundless black solid
Example: The mine felt dark like coal silence.
Extended Similes for Dark
Dark as the shaft of a closed observatory dome at lunar midnight
Meaning: sealed starless void
Example: The tunnel stretched dark as the shaft of a closed observatory dome at lunar midnight.
Dark like the inside of a sample holder kept at 0.05 lux inside the University of Tokyo optics vault
Meaning: calibrated pitch blackness
Example: The camera box stayed dark like the inside of a sample holder kept at 0.05 lux inside the University of Tokyo optics vault.
Dark as the pigment layer in a raven’s flight feather under 40 × microscope
Meaning: dense melanin black
Example: The ink pool looked dark as the pigment layer in a raven’s flight feather under 40 × microscope.
Dark like the backside of a solar panel during the 2017 total eclipse at 13:28 UT
Meaning: light-starved surface
Example: The basement was dark like the backside of a solar panel during the 2017 total eclipse at 13:28 UT.
Similes for Dark in Literature
Dark as the inkwell beside Melville’s writing desk in 1851
Meaning: historical authorial black
Example: The night sky over the wharf was dark as the inkwell beside Melville’s writing desk in 1851.
Dark like the locked drawer where Poe stored his “Raven” draft sheets
Meaning: sealed manuscript gloom
Example: The study corner stayed dark like the locked drawer where Poe stored his “Raven” draft sheets.
Dark as the margins in Blake’s illuminated copperplate of “The Tyger”
Meaning: etched print shadow
Example: The forest path looked dark as the margins in Blake’s illuminated copperplate of “The Tyger”.
Dark like the unlit corridor outside Emily Dickinson’s bedroom at 3 a.m. in 1862
Meaning: poet’s night stillness
Example: The hallway felt dark like the unlit corridor outside Emily Dickinson’s bedroom at 3 a.m. in 1862.
Similes For Dark
Dark as vacuum chamber walls
Meaning: airless black interior
Example: The test cube stayed dark as vacuum chamber walls.
Dark like graphite crystal lattice
Meaning: carbon black order
Example: The streak plate appeared dark like graphite crystal lattice.
Dark as shuttered catacombs
Meaning: sealed burial black
Example: The cellar felt dark as shuttered catacombs.
Dark like bitumen core sample
Meaning: tar-black cylinder
Example: The drill slice stayed dark like bitumen core sample.
Dark as lunar regolith shadow
Meaning: moon dust shade
Example: The crater floor stayed dark as lunar regolith shadow.
Dark like sealed film canister
Meaning: light-blocked cavity
Example: The old reel box was dark like sealed film canister.
Dark as anthracite seam
Meaning: hard coal black
Example: The tunnel wall looked dark as anthracite seam.
Dark like pupil at 0 lux
Meaning: fully dilated black
Example: The subject’s eye stayed dark like pupil at 0 lux.
Dark as magnetite streak
Meaning: mineral black line
Example: The scratch plate showed dark as magnetite streak.
Dark like black-box interior
Meaning: light-tight electronics shell
Example: The recorder cavity was dark like black-box interior.
Dark as basalt void
Meaning: volcanic rock hollow
Example: The lava tube remained dark as basalt void.
Dark like carbon nanotube forest
Meaning: light-absorbing array
Example: The absorber surface looked dark like carbon nanotube forest.
Dark as sealed archive box
Meaning: document blackout
Example: The storage vault stayed dark as sealed archive box.
Dark like zero-lux spectrometer slit
Meaning: no-light input
Example: The sensor gap stayed dark like zero-lux spectrometer slit.
Dark as iron sulfide layer
Meaning: tarnish black coat
Example: The pipe wall turned dark as iron sulfide layer.
Dark like moth wing scale micro-structure
Meaning: light-trapping texture
Example: The coating looked dark like moth wing scale micro-structure.
Dark as abyssal trench water
Meaning: 4000 m no-light zone
Example: The sample flask was dark as abyssal trench water.
Dark like unpowered OLED pixel
Meaning: emissive black state
Example: The dead screen stayed dark like unpowered OLED pixel.
Dark as coal dust cloud
Meaning: airborne black particles
Example: The air above the pile looked dark as coal dust cloud.
Dark like zero-reflectance paint
Meaning: <0.5 % reflectivity
Example: The optical baffle stayed dark like zero-reflectance paint.
Dark as sealed tomb air
Meaning: light-excluded space
Example: The chamber felt dark as sealed tomb air.
Dark like black hole accretion shadow
Meaning: event-horizon black disc
Example: The simulation image showed dark like black hole accretion shadow.
Dark as obsidian fracture plane
Meaning: glassy black break
Example: The shard surface looked dark as obsidian fracture plane.
Dark like printer toner cavity
Meaning: carbon black reservoir
Example: The cartridge inside stayed dark like printer toner cavity.
Dark as night-side exoplanet
Meaning: tidally locked dark face
Example: The model sphere looked dark as night-side exoplanet.
Dark like deactivated LED array
Meaning: off-state black panel
Example: The billboard stayed dark like deactivated LED array.
Dark as underground aquifer void
Meaning: water-filled black space
Example: The drilled shaft felt dark as underground aquifer void.
Dark like soot particle monolayer
Meaning: single-layer carbon black
Example: The filter patch looked dark like soot particle monolayer.
QUIZ_START
Quiz: similes for Dark
1. Which short simile means “blackout blotting all light”?
A. Dark as obsidian zero
B. Dark as eclipse ink
C. Dark like neutron glass
D. Dark like coal silence
Correct answer: B
2. What does “dark like neutron glass” mainly stress?
A. Total light stop
B. Historical gloom
C. Volcanic rock hollow
D. Soundless black solid
Correct answer: A
3. Which extended simile uses a closed observatory at lunar midnight?
A. Dark as the pigment layer in a raven’s flight feather
B. Dark like the inside of a 0.05 lux sample holder
C. Dark as the shaft of a closed observatory dome at lunar midnight
D. Dark like the backside of a solar panel
Correct answer: C
4. The Tokyo optics vault is mentioned in which simile?
A. Dark as eclipse ink
B. Dark like the inside of a sample holder kept at 0.05 lux inside the University of Tokyo optics vault
C. Dark as basalt void
D. Dark like sealed archive box
Correct answer: B
5. Which literary simile links to Herman Melville?
A. Dark as the margins in Blake’s illuminated copperplate
B. Dark like the locked drawer where Poe stored his “Raven” draft sheets
C. Dark as the inkwell beside Melville’s writing desk in 1851
D. Dark like the corridor outside Emily Dickinson’s bedroom
Correct answer: C
6. “Dark like coal silence” is closest in feel to which other simile?
A. Dark as vacuum chamber walls
B. Dark like graphite crystal lattice
C. Dark like coal dust cloud
D. Dark as shuttered catacombs
Correct answer: D
7. Which simile refers to the 2017 total eclipse?
A. Dark like the backside of a solar panel during the 2017 total eclipse at 13:28 UT
B. Dark as lunar regolith shadow
C. Dark like black-box interior
D. Dark as anthracite seam
Correct answer: A
8. “Dark as the margins in Blake’s illuminated copperplate of ‘The Tyger’” is a simile about:
A. Volcanic rock hollow
B. Etched print shadow
C. Zero-reflectance paint
D. Carbon nanotube forest
Correct answer: B
9. Which everyday object is compared in “dark like printer toner cavity”?
A. Old reel box
B. Toner cartridge
C. Iron sulfide pipe
D. Bitumen core sample
Correct answer: B
10. Which simile describes the eye in zero light?
A. Dark like pupil at 0 lux
B. Dark as abyssal trench water
C. Dark like deactivated LED array
D. Dark as obsidian fracture plane
Correct answer: A