benight - definition, synonyms and pronunciation

Open English WordNet

overtake with darkness or nightMore general overwhelm, overpower
envelop with social, intellectual, or moral darkness“The benighted peoples of this area”More general envelop, enfold
make darker and difficult to perceive by sightSynonyms: bedimMore general darken

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be·night′ (bē-nīt′), transitive verb [past tense & past participle Benighted; present participle & verbal noun Benighting.]

1. To involve in darkness; to shroud with the shades of night; to obscure. archaic

The clouds benight the sky.— Sir Samuel Garth

2. To overtake with night or darkness, especially before the end of a day's journey or task.

Some virgin, sure,... benighted in these woods.— John Milton

3. To involve in moral darkness, or ignorance; to debar from intellectual light.

Shall we to men benighted The lamp of life deny ?— Reginald Heber

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54