nighten means to become night or grow dark, as night. It carries an Arena rating of 1328, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, nighten ranks #1,403 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #2,516 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words, #2,620 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #4,011 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words.
Why “nighten” is a great word
To grow dark with the particular, encompassing onset of night. From the English noun 'night' + the verbal suffix '-en' (as in 'harden', 'hasten'), first attested in 1561 in a translation by Richard Eden. Unlike 'darken,' which concerns a general diminution of light, or 'dusk,' which names a twilight period, to nighten is to enact the world's gradual transformation into nocturnal dominion. It is the cobalt seeping from the eastern horizon, the slow extinguishing of window-lights across a valley, and the moment a star’s pinpoint sharpens against the deepening vault—the quiet ceremony by which day is ceremoniously undone into the profound presence of night.
Etymology
From night + -en.
verb
- To become night or grow dark, as night.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.