Penumbra1. (n.) An incomplete or partial shadow.
2. (n.) The shadow cast, in an eclipse, where the light is partly, but not wholly, cut off by the intervening body; the space of partial illumination between the umbra, or perfect shadow, on all sides, and the full light.
3. (n.) The part of a picture where the shade imperceptibly blends with the light.
Thesaurus Entries
adumbrate, becloud, bedarken, bedim, begloom, black, black out, blacken, blackness, bleakness, block the light, blot out, blues, brood, brown, cast a shadow, cloud, cloud over, cloudiness, dark, dark shade, darken, darken over, darkle, darkness, dejection, depression, desolation, despair, despondency, dim, dim out, dimness, dismalness, doldrums, dolor, downheartedness, dreariness, dullness, dumps, dusk, eclipse, encloud, encompass with shadow, frown, gloam, gloominess, glower, gravity, grimace, grimness, grow dark, grow dim, knit the brow, look black, look sullen, low spirits, lower, lowering, make a lip, make a moue, melancholy, mere shadow, misery, mope, moroseness, murk, murkiness, obfuscate, obnubilate, obscure, obscurity, obumbrate, occult, occultate, overcast, overcloud, overshadow, penumbra, pout, sadness, scowl, shade, shadiness, shadow, shadowiness, shadows numberless, silhouette, skiagram, skiagraph, solemnity, somber, somberness, sombrousness, sorrow, umbra, umbrage, umbrageousness, unhappiness, wearifulness, wearisomeness, woe