Entry 2 senses Webster, 1913 Darkly · Dark·ly · IPA /ˈdɑɹkli/ 01 adv. With imperfect light, clearness, or knowledge; obscurely; dimly; blindly; uncertainly. 1. With imperfect light, clearness, or knowledge; obscurely; dimly; blindly; uncertainly. “What fame to future times conveys but darkly down.” — Dryden. “so softly dark and darkly pure.” — Byron. 2. With a dark, gloomy, cruel, or menacing look. “Looking darkly at the clerguman.” — Hawthorne.