Meaning of 暗
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- dark
- to turn dark
- secret; hidden
- (literary) confused; ignorant
- variant of 暗[an4]
- (literary) to close (a door)
- to eclipse
- confused; ignorant (variant of 暗[an4])
- dark (variant of 暗[an4])
How to use 暗
暗 describes low light, as in 房间很暗 (fángjiān hěn àn, the room is dark). It also means secret or hidden in words like 暗中 (ànzhōng) and 暗示 (ànshì). Example: 天暗了，我们回家吧。(Tiān àn le, wǒmen huíjiā ba.) It is getting dark, let's go home.
暗 (àn) puts 日 (rì, sun) next to 音 (yīn, sound). When the sun is gone, you can only hear sounds in the dark, so 暗 means dark or hidden.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 暗 (àn) with 音 (yīn) or 意 (yì), which share the same right or lower part. Remember that 暗 has the 日 sun on the left because it is about light.
暗 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
暗 àn · dark · 13 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 暗.
| 黑暗 | hēi'àn | dark; darkly |
| 暗示 | ànshì | to hint; to suggest; hint; suggestion |
| 暗杀 | ànshā | to assassinate |
| 暗中 | ànzhōng | in the dark; in secret |
| 阴暗 | yīn'àn | dim; dark |
| 暗地里 | àndìlǐ | secretly; inwardly; on the sly |
| 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 |
Questions about 暗
What does 暗 mean?
暗 (àn) means "dark; to turn dark" and is used as a adjective.
How do you write 暗?
暗 is made of 1 character: 暗 (13 strokes). That is 13 strokes in total.
Is 暗 an HSK word?
Yes. 暗 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 暗 and 黑?
黑 (hēi) means black or completely dark, like at night. 暗 (àn) means dim or not bright enough, like a poorly lit room. They combine in 黑暗 (hēi'àn), which means darkness.
Can 暗 mean secret?
Yes. In compounds 暗 often means hidden or secret, as in 暗中 (ànzhōng, in secret), 暗杀 (ànshā, to assassinate), and 暗地里 (àndìlǐ, on the sly). On its own in daily speech it usually means dim.