Link Centre Dictionary

benight

be·night

UK/bɪˈnaɪt/ US/bɪˈnaɪt/ uncommon archaic

verb

1.
2.

envelop with social, intellectual, or moral darkness

  • “The benighted peoples of this area”
3.

make difficult to perceive by sight

  • “The foliage of the huge tree obscures the view of the lake”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English benyghten, binighten, bynyȝten, equivalent to be- + night.

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.