暗 meaning and stroke order
Dark; to turn dark; secret; hidden
How to write 暗, stroke by stroke
13 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 暗
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- dark
- to turn dark
- secret; hidden
- (literary) confused; ignorant
- variant of 暗[an4]
- (literary) to close (a door)
How 暗 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Sun.
日 gives the meaning and 音 hints at the sound.
Radical: 日 (sun), shared by 116 characters on this site.
How to remember 暗
暗 (àn) puts the sun 日 next to 音 (yīn, sound). 日 hints at light or its absence, and 音 gives a similar sound. Picture a place with no sun where you can only hear sounds, not see anything.
暗 describes physical darkness, as in 黑暗 (hēi'àn) and 阴暗 (yīn'àn). It also means secret or hidden, as in 暗中 (ànzhōng), 暗示 (ànshì) and 暗恋 (ànliàn). Example: 房间里太暗了。(Fángjiān lǐ tài àn le.) It is too dark in the room.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes confuse 暗 with 音 (yīn) or 意 (yì), which share the 音 part. Remember that only 暗 has the sun 日 on the left. The tone is also often wrong. It is a falling fourth tone, àn, not ān like 安.
Common words with 暗
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 黑暗 | hēi'àn | dark; darkly | HSK 4 |
| 暗示 | ànshì | to hint; to suggest; hint; suggestion | HSK 4 |
| 暗杀 | ànshā | to assassinate | HSK 7-9 |
| 暗中 | ànzhōng | in the dark; in secret | HSK 7-9 |
| 阴暗 | yīn'àn | dim; dark | HSK 7-9 |
| 暗地里 | àndìlǐ | secretly; inwardly; on the sly | HSK 7-9 |
| 暗号 | ànhào | secret signal; password; countersign | |
| 暗恋 | ànliàn | to be secretly in love with | |
| 暗影 | ànyǐng | shadow; umbra | |
| 暗算 | ànsuàn | to plot against | |
| 暗处 | ànchù | secret place | |
| 暗黑 | ànhēi | dark; dim | |
| 暗物质 | ànwùzhì | (physics) dark matter | |
| 昏暗 | hūn'àn | dusky |
暗 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 暗
How many strokes are in 暗?
暗 is written with 13 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 暗 mean?
暗 (àn) means dark; to turn dark; secret; hidden. A common word with it is 黑暗 (hēi'àn), meaning "dark; darkly".
How do you pronounce 暗?
暗 is pronounced àn, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 暗?
The radical of 暗 is 日, which carries the idea of "sun". Dictionaries list 暗 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 暗?
The traditional form of 暗 is 晻 and 闇. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 暗 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 暗 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 暗 is part of the HSK 4 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 3.
What is the difference between 暗 and 黑?
黑 (hēi) means black or completely dark. 暗 means dim or lacking light, so a room can be 暗 without being fully 黑. 暗 also carries the extra meaning of secret, which 黑 usually does not.
How do you say 'secretly' with 暗?
Use 暗中 (ànzhōng) or the more colloquial 暗地里 (àndìlǐ) before the verb. For example, 他暗中帮助我 (tā ànzhōng bāngzhù wǒ) means he helped me secretly.