Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

dark figure

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.75 in modern English

Syllables: dark- -fig-ure
IPA

19

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

4

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The estimated number of unreported criminal cases.

Example Sentences

"In exploring the dark figure of crime, the primary question is not how much of it becomes revealed but rather what will be the selective properties of any particular innovation for its illumination."
"The dark figure concerning these criminal offences, is very high and the attitude towards reporting such cases is not constant."
"By definition, they ignore the unreported “dark figure” of crime. We turn now to a second source of official crime data."
"Arguing that the dark figure is larger, perhaps very large (“The cases we know about are just the tip of the iceberg!”), makes any estimate seem possible, even reasonable."

Etymology

Calque of German Dunkelziffer.

Inflected Forms

dark figures (plural)

Questions

What does dark figure mean?: The estimated number of unreported criminal cases.
Where does dark figure come from?: Calque of German Dunkelziffer.

How to pronounce dark figure

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