The term "dusky" is used in literature to evoke an atmosphere imbued with subtle gradations of light and shadow, lending both physical and emotional depth to a scene. Writers employ it to depict environments where the fading light creates a mysterious, sometimes foreboding aura, as when twilight blends with the somber hues of a haunted wood or dim corridors [1, 2, 3]. At the same time, "dusky" describes aspects of character and mood—a flush of dusky red on a face or the shadowed relief of an expression—that hints at inner turmoil or quiet melancholy [4, 5]. In this way, the adjective becomes a versatile tool for crafting settings that are steeped in nuance and for suggesting an interplay between external ambiance and internal sentiment [6, 7, 8].
- As it descended, its dusky rays crossed the brilliant ones of the sun, and deadened or distorted them.
— from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
- In a low-arched and dusky passage, by which he endeavoured to work his way to the hall of the castle, he was interrupted by a female form.
— from Ivanhoe: A Romance by Walter Scott
- Here the full daylight of a December noon only produced a dusky twilight.
— from The History of a Crime by Victor Hugo
- His father's face, dusky red, twitching as if he were going to cry, and words breaking out that seemed rent from him by some spasm in his soul.
— from The Forsyte Saga, Volume I. by John Galsworthy
- His dark brows knitted and his face flushed to a dusky red as he spoke.
— from The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
- All benches are crowded; in the dusky galleries, duskier with unwashed heads, is a strange 'coruscation,'—of impromptu billhooks.
— from The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle
- She closed her eyes as she sat in one of the dusky corners of the quiet parlour; but it was not with a desire for dozing forgetfulness.
— from The Portrait of a Lady — Volume 1 by Henry James
- For nine long nights, through all the dusky air, The pyres, thick-flaming, shot a dismal glare.
— from The Iliad by Homer