* Absence of light: "The room was dark because the lights were off."
* Lack of brightness: "The sky was dark with storm clouds."
* A deep shade of color: "She wore a dark blue dress."
These examples focus on the physical characteristics of darkness without any subjective interpretation or emotional association.
It's important to note that the denotative meaning of a word can be different depending on the context. For example, "dark" can also be used to describe something that is unclear or unknown ("The future is dark"), but this meaning is still based on its literal definition of the absence of light.