Meaning of 黑暗
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- dark
- darkly
- darkness
How to use 黑暗
黑暗 describes a lack of light, and it is also common in a figurative sense for a corrupt or hopeless time or society. It can act as an adjective or as a noun meaning darkness. Example: 房间里一片黑暗。(Fángjiān lǐ yí piàn hēi'àn.) The room was in total darkness.
黑 (hēi) means black, and 暗 (àn) has the sun radical 日 next to 音 (yīn, sound), so picture a place where the sun is gone and you can only hear sounds. Black plus no sunlight gives you deep darkness.
Common mistake: Learners often use 黑暗 for everyday darkness, like saying 外面很黑暗 when it is just night. In casual speech people simply say 天黑了 (tiān hēi le) or 外面很黑, and save 黑暗 for stronger, more literary or figurative contexts.
黑暗 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.
黑 hēi · black · 12 strokes
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暗 àn · dark · 13 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 黑暗.
| 黑色 | hēisè | black |
| 黑板 | hēibǎn | blackboard |
| 暗示 | ànshì | to hint; to suggest; hint; suggestion |
| 黑夜 | hēiyè | night |
| 暗杀 | ànshā | to assassinate |
| 黑客 | hēikè | (computing) (loanword) hacker |
| 暗中 | ànzhōng | in the dark; in secret |
| 黑手 | hēishǒu | (fig.) malign agent who manipulates from behind the scenes; hidden hand |
| 黑白 | hēibái | black and white; right and wrong |
| 阴暗 | yīn'àn | dim; dark |
| 黑马 | hēimǎ | dark horse; fig. unexpected winner |
| 暗地里 | àndìlǐ | secretly; inwardly; on the sly |
Questions about 黑暗
What does 黑暗 mean?
黑暗 (hēi'àn) means "dark; darkly" and is used as a adjective.
How do you write 黑暗?
黑暗 is made of 2 characters: 黑 (12 strokes), 暗 (13 strokes). That is 25 strokes in total.
Is 黑暗 an HSK word?
Yes. 黑暗 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 黑暗 and 暗?
暗 (àn) alone means dim or not bright, as in 灯光很暗 (the light is dim). 黑暗 is stronger and means truly dark or darkness, and it often carries a figurative meaning of evil or corruption.
How do you say the opposite of 黑暗?
The usual opposite is 光明 (guāngmíng), meaning bright or light, and also hope or a bright future. They often appear as a pair, as in 从黑暗走向光明 (from darkness toward light).