Synonyms for shadow


Grammar : Noun, verb
Spell : shad-oh
Phonetic Transcription : ˈʃæd oʊ

Top 10 synonyms for shadow Other synonyms for the word shadow

Définition of shadow

Origin :
  • Old English sceadwe, sceaduwe "the effect of interception of sunlight, dark image cast by someone or something when interposed between an object and a source of light," oblique cases ("to the," "from the," "of the," "in the") of sceadu (see shade (n.)). Shadow is to shade (n.) as meadow is to mead (n.2). Cf. Old Saxon skado, Middle Dutch schaeduwe, Dutch schaduw, Old High German scato, German schatten, Gothic skadus "shadow, shade."
  • From mid-13c. as "darkened area created by shadows, shade." From early 13c. in sense "anything unreal;" mid-14c. as "a ghost;" late 14c. as "a foreshadowing, prefiguration." Meaning "imitation, copy" is from 1690s. Sense of "the faintest trace" is from 1580s; that of "a spy who follows" is from 1859.
  • As a designation of members of an opposition party chosen as counterparts of the government in power, it is recorded from 1906. Shadow of Death (c.1200) translates Vulgate umbra mortis (Ps. xxiii:4, etc.), which itself translates Greek skia thanatou, perhaps a mistranslation of a Hebrew word for "intense darkness." In "Beowulf," Gendel is a sceadugenga, a shadow-goer, and another word for "darkness" is sceaduhelm. To be afraid of one's (own) shadow "be very timorous" is from 1580s.
  • noun darkness
  • noun hint, suggestion
  • verb make dark
  • verb follow secretly
Example sentences :
  • They possessed no watches but they measured time by the shadow of the sun-dial.
  • Extract from : « Ancient Man » by Hendrik Willem van Loon
  • His footfall was a feathery thing that carried him like a shadow to the door.
  • Extract from : « Way of the Lawless » by Max Brand
  • The bright eyes burned at him for a moment longer out of the shadow.
  • Extract from : « Way of the Lawless » by Max Brand
  • Running the car into the shadow of a ruined house, I try to sleep.
  • Extract from : « Ballads of a Bohemian » by Robert W. Service
  • Then the chief slid out of a shadow and come at us like a tiger.
  • Extract from : « Way of the Lawless » by Max Brand
  • And, before the danger line had been crossed, he was worn to a shadow.
  • Extract from : « Way of the Lawless » by Max Brand
  • You would  have not a shadow of a case against him in the courts.
  • Extract from : « The Raid From Beausejour; And How The Carter Boys Lifted The Mortgage » by Charles G. D. Roberts
  • Nothing was left her in the valley but the shadow, and the last weapon, All-prayer.
  • Extract from : « Weighed and Wanting » by George MacDonald
  • She lies athwart the lands, and her shadow is over the seas.
  • Extract from : « The White Company » by Arthur Conan Doyle
  • "Out from the shadow then," said the other, drawing his sword.
  • Extract from : « The White Company » by Arthur Conan Doyle

Antonyms for shadow

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019