DARK  黑暗

COLOUR LACKING BRIGHTNESS.
BLACKPITCH-BLACKJET-BLACKINKYUNLITUNILLUMINATEDSTARLESSMOONLESSDINGYGLOOMYDUSKYSHADOWYSHADY
Antonym
  • BRIGHTFEATURE of ISSUING:giving out INTENSE LIGHT.
    Hypernym
    • COLOURAPPEARANCE of SURFACES which REFLECT OR ISSUE LIGHT, PERCEIVED USING the EYES.
      • APPEARANCECLEAR:visible BUT SUBJECTIVELY PERCEIVED FEATURES.
        • FEATUREABSTRACT OBJECT a THING is SAID to BE OR to HAVE.
          • OBJECT[NO HYPERNYM.] WHAT one CAN NAME:refer to....
    See also
    • BLACKINTENSELY DARK COLOUR of THINGS LACKING LIGHT.
      Hyponym
      • OBSCURE　DARK so as to be DIFFICULT to SEE, DIFFICULT to UNDERSTAND OR STRANGE to THINK of.
        • SUPERNATURAL　OBSCURE, NOT ORDINARY, AND BELIEVED TO HAVE BIG POWER, AND which one CAN NOT PERCEIVE....
        • CONCEAL　CAUSE TO BECOME OBSCURE:invisible....
        • PROFOUND　OBSCURE BUT INTENSELY INTERESTING.
        • ESOTERIC　DELIBERATELY OBSCURE AND WRITTEN OR SAID FOR A CERTAIN GROUP.
      Old Chinese Criteria
      1. The most current general word for physical shadowiness and obscurity is probably yōu 幽 (ant. míng 明 "bright"), but this word often has lyrical overtones of secluded peace.

      2. Míng 冥 (ant. guāng 光 "light"), hūn 昏 (ant. zhāo 昭 "bright") and the rarer mèi 昧 (ant. xiǎn 顯 "clear and manifest") refer freely to purely optical darkness and abstract obscurity.

      3. Xuán 玄 "very dark reddish-black" (ant. bái 白 "plain white") currently refers to mysterious obscurity of the abstract kind. See MYSTERIOUS

      4. Huì 晦 (ant. zhāng 彰 "plain and manifest") refers to obscurity, expecially of texts or of thoughts.

      5. Měng 蒙 (ant. yào 耀 "bright and clearly visible") refers to psychological dimness, obfuscation of mind.

      6. Yǐn 隱 focuses on the inaccessibility to discursive reasoning of what is mysterious.

      7. Àn 暗 / 闇 (ant. míng 明 "bright") can refer to darkness but most of the time this word actually refers abstractly to the benightedness of a ruler.

      8. Yīn 陰 "shadowy, shaded" (ant.* liàng 亮 "bright") describes the lack of light as contrasted with surrounding light.

      9. Ài 曖 is pervasive darkness as a general state, where mèi 昧 is darker than ài 曖.

      10. Hēi 黑 (ant.* hào 皓 "shiny and bright") is darkness imposed by the intrinsic darkness of pigment on an object. See BLACK.

      11. Yǎo 杳 is used in poetry as a general word referring to darkness.

      12. Wū 烏 (ant. hào 皓 "shining white") is quite rare and refers to a high degree of darkness that is without lustre not quite pitch dark.

      Modern Chinese Criteria
      黑暗

      黝暗

      昏黑

      黝黑

      墨黑

      漆黑

      曖昧

      暗昧

      黑

      黑洞洞

      黑沉沉

      黑咕隆咚

      黑燈瞎火

      漆黑一團

      伸手不見五指

      黑暗

      暗無天日

      有天無日

      不見天日

      漆黑一團

      一團漆黑

      天昏地暗

      昏天黑地

      長夜難明

      烏煙瘴氣

      烏七八糟

      黑幕重重

      豺狼當道

      道路以目

      削木為吏

      萬馬齊喑

      上下鉗口

      敢怒而不敢言

      天下烏鴉一般黑

      rough draft to BEGIN TO identify synonym group members for analysis, based on CL etc. 18.11.2003. CH ／

      • Novyj objasnitel'nyj Slovar' Sinonimov Russkogo Jazyka ( APRESJAN 2004) p. 1151

      • () p. 16.53

      • Lateinische Synonyme und Etymologien ( DOEDERLEIN 1840) p.

        DARKNESS

        obscurum refers to darkness as an obstruction of light.

        tenebrae refers directly to the absence of light as such.

        caligo denotes a greater degree of darkness than tenebrae.

      • Traite elementaire des synonymes grecques ( DUFOUR 1910) p. 127

      • “荀子”單音節形容詞同義關係研究 ( HUANG XIAODONG 2003) p. 259

      • Lateinische Synonymik ( MENGE) p. 254

      • Handbuch der lateinischen und griechischen Synonymik ( SCHMIDT 1889) p. 46

      • 現代漢語同義詞詞典 ( LIU SHUXIN 1987) p. 2

      • 現代漢語同義詞詞典 ( LIU SHUXIN 1987) p. 8

      • Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the Other Italic Languages ( DE VAAN 2008) p.

        callgo, -inis 'darkness, obscurity' [f. n] (P1.+)

        Derivatives: caligare 'to be dark' (maybe Pac.+ 'to make dark' (uncertain

        attestation), otherwise Cic.+).

      Attributions by syntactic funtion

      • vi : 25
      • nab : 19
      • vadN : 19
      • n : 14
      • VPi : 6
      • vi.red : 5
      • v[adN] : 3
      • vtoN : 3
      • nadV : 2
      • NPab : 2
      • n.red:ab : 1
      • v.red:adN : 1
      • vi0adN : 1
      • vi0 : 1

      Attributions by text

      • 楚辭 : 15
      • 韓非子 : 9
      • 禮記 : 7
      • 論衡 : 7
      • 管子 : 7
      • 春秋左傳 : 5
      • 淮南子 : 5
      • 莊子 : 5
      • 賢愚經 : 5
      • 韓詩外傳 : 4
      • 荀子 : 3
      • 毛詩 : 3
      • 孟子 : 3
      • 祖堂集 : 3
      • 六祖壇經 : 3
      • 說苑 : 2
      • 呂氏春秋 : 2
      • 百喻經 : 2
      • 臨濟錄 : 2
      • 史記 : 2
      • 文選 : 1
      • 陸機集十一卷 : 1
      • 文心雕龍十卷 : 1
      • 法句經 : 1
      • 論語 : 1
      • 合陰陽釋文 : 1
      • 法言 : 1
      • 法集要頌經 : 1

      Words

      幽  yōu OC: qriw MC: ʔi̯u 33 AttributionsWD

      The most current general word for physical shadowiness and obscurity is probably yōu 幽 (ant. míng 明 "bright"), but this word often has lyrical overtones of secluded peace.

        Word relations
      • Ant: 明/CLEAR The most general standard and clearly dominant word for things that are easily accessible to the intellect and to the senses is míng 明 (ant. hūn 昏 "unclear").
      • Ant: 明/BRIGHT The general term for what appears luminous or bright in the broadest sense of these terms is míng 明 (ant. àn 暗 "dark" and yǐn 隱 "dark"), a word heavily laden with religious overtones.
      • Epithet: 憂/WORRY The current general term for all sorts of troubled states of mind, as well as reasons for such states of mind, is yōu 憂 (ant. xǐ 喜 "be well pleased" and lè 樂 "feel deep joy"), and this word may freely refer to troublesome matters of the present or of the future, and the word typiccally refers to a termporary state of hightened awareness of what is troublesome and concern about what should be done about it.
      • Epithet: 谷/VALLEY The standard word for a valley is gǔ 谷 (ant. shān 山 "mountain"), and the word presupposes a certain size without emphasising large size.
      • Assoc: 冥/DARK Míng 冥 (ant. guāng 光 "light"), hūn 昏 (ant. zhāo 昭 "bright") and the rarer mèi 昧 (ant. xiǎn 顯 "clear and manifest") refer freely to purely optical darkness and abstract obscurity.
      • Assoc: 昧/DARK Míng 冥 (ant. guāng 光 "light"), hūn 昏 (ant. zhāo 昭 "bright") and the rarer mèi 昧 (ant. xiǎn 顯 "clear and manifest") refer freely to purely optical darkness and abstract obscurity.
      • Assoc: 晦/DARK Huì 晦 (ant. zhāng 彰 "plain and manifest") refers to obscurity, expecially of texts or of thoughts.
      • Assoc: 深 / 深/DEEP The dominant current general word for anything deep in any sense is shēn 深 (ant. qiǎn 淺"shallow").
      • Assoc: 蔽/DARK
      • Assoc: 遼/DISTANT Liáo 遼 is a poetic referring to what is distant and remote in space and therefore an obscure place. Note liáo yuǎn 遼遠.
      • Assoc: 遼/DISTANT Liáo 遼 is a poetic referring to what is distant and remote in space and therefore an obscure place. Note liáo yuǎn 遼遠.

        Syntactic words
      • nobscurity; seclusion
      • nabmetaphysicalthe sphere of dark invisibility; the underworld
      • nsubjectdark place, secluded place
      • vadNdark and shady, dark and secluded (like a shadowy valley); overgrown
      • vibe dark and shady, be secluded
      • vi.redbe all dark; be completely secluded
      • vtoNcausativecause to be dark and uncivilised
      暗  àn OC: qɯɯms MC: ʔəm
      闇  àn OC: qɯɯms MC: ʔəm 18 AttributionsWD

      Àn 暗/闇 (ant. míng 明 "bright") can refer to darkness but most of the time this word actually refers abstractly to the benightedness of a ruler.

        Word relations
      • Ant: 明/BRIGHT The general term for what appears luminous or bright in the broadest sense of these terms is míng 明 (ant. àn 暗 "dark" and yǐn 隱 "dark"), a word heavily laden with religious overtones.
      • Ant: 照 / 照/SHINE
      • Ant: 陽/BRIGHT Yáng 陽 "bright" (ant. yīn 陰 "dark") is simply the opposite of dark and does not connote any high degree of luminosity.
      • Assoc: 昧/DARK Míng 冥 (ant. guāng 光 "light"), hūn 昏 (ant. zhāo 昭 "bright") and the rarer mèi 昧 (ant. xiǎn 顯 "clear and manifest") refer freely to purely optical darkness and abstract obscurity.

        Syntactic words
      • nwhat is dark
      • nabfigurativespiritual darkness
      • nabstativestate of darkness, state of darkness
      • nabtimetime of darkness (after sunset)
      • vadNdark; hidden
      • vadVsecretly
      • vibe without light, be dark
      • vichangeturn dark
      • vtoNcausativedarken
      昏  hūn OC: hmuun MC: huo̝n 8 AttributionsWD

      Míng 冥 (ant. guāng 光 "light"), hūn 昏 (ant. zhāo 昭 "bright") and the rarer mèi 昧 (ant. xiǎn 顯 "clear and manifest") refer freely to purely optical darkness and abstract obscurity.

        Syntactic words
      • ndarkness; by extension: confusion; ignorance
      • nadVat dusk
      • vadNdark and obscure;by extension: confused; benighted; obscured
      • vibe murky, be dim; be dusky by extension: be confused, benighted
      • vi0adNwhen it is dark 昏者
      冥  míng OC: meeŋ MC: meŋ 6 AttributionsWD

      Míng 冥 (ant. guāng 光 "light"), hūn 昏 (ant. zhāo 昭 "bright") and the rarer mèi 昧 (ant. xiǎn 顯 "clear and manifest") refer freely to purely optical darkness and abstract obscurity.

        Word relations
      • Assoc: 幽/DARK The most current general word for physical shadowiness and obscurity is probably yōu 幽 (ant. míng 明 "bright"), but this word often has lyrical overtones of secluded peace.
      • Assoc: 晦/DARK Huì 晦 (ant. zhāng 彰 "plain and manifest") refers to obscurity, expecially of texts or of thoughts.

        Syntactic words
      • n.red:abfigurativeconcealment, secrecy, invisibilityLZ
      • nabfigurativemetaphysial darkness; obfusation;
      • nadVin the dark
      • v.red:adNdark and mysterious
      • v[adN]figurativethe (northern) dark
      • vadNdark
      • vidark and mysterious, like the night
      • vi.redbe very dark and mysterious
      • vi.redfigurativebe very obscure, dark, murky, and mystifying
      陰  yīn OC: qrɯm MC: ʔim 4 AttributionsWD

      Yīn 陰 "shadowy, shaded" (ant.* liàng 亮 "bright") describes the lack of light as contrasted with surrounding light.

        Syntactic words
      • novercast weather
      • vadNdark
      • vibe all dark; shadowy, dark
      • vichangeto get dark; get cloudy (of sky)
      • vtoNcausativecause (ruler) to be in the dark, keep in the dark
      晦  huì OC: hmɯɯs MC: huo̝i 3 AttributionsWD

      Huì 晦 (ant. zhāng 彰 "plain and manifest") refers to obscurity, expecially of texts or of thoughts.

        Word relations
      • Ant: 明/BRIGHT The general term for what appears luminous or bright in the broadest sense of these terms is míng 明 (ant. àn 暗 "dark" and yǐn 隱 "dark"), a word heavily laden with religious overtones.
      • Assoc: 幽/DARK The most current general word for physical shadowiness and obscurity is probably yōu 幽 (ant. míng 明 "bright"), but this word often has lyrical overtones of secluded peace.
      • Assoc: 冥/DARK Míng 冥 (ant. guāng 光 "light"), hūn 昏 (ant. zhāo 昭 "bright") and the rarer mèi 昧 (ant. xiǎn 顯 "clear and manifest") refer freely to purely optical darkness and abstract obscurity.

        Syntactic words
      • v[adN]the dark one
      • vibe dark
      • vifigurativedim and obscure (of texts)
      曖  ài OC: qɯɯds MC: ʔəi 3 AttributionsWD

      Ài 曖 is pervasive darkness as a general state, where mèi 昧 is darker than ài 曖.

        Syntactic words
      • vadNrare and poetic heavily overclouded and dark; cloudy and pregnant with rain, dark and rich
      • vibe dark and heavy with rain
      • vichangebecome dark
      昧  mèi OC: mɯɯds MC: muo̝i 2 AttributionsWD

      Míng 冥 (ant. guāng 光 "light"), hūn 昏 (ant. zhāo 昭 "bright") and the rarer mèi 昧 (ant. xiǎn 顯 "clear and manifest") refer freely to purely optical darkness and abstract obscurity.

        Word relations
      • Ant: 皦/BRIGHT
      • Assoc: 幽/DARK The most current general word for physical shadowiness and obscurity is probably yōu 幽 (ant. míng 明 "bright"), but this word often has lyrical overtones of secluded peace.
      • Assoc: 暗 / 闇/DARK Àn 暗/闇 (ant. míng 明 "bright") can refer to darkness but most of the time this word actually refers abstractly to the benightedness of a ruler.
      • Synon: 暗 / 闇/DARK Àn 暗/闇 (ant. míng 明 "bright") can refer to darkness but most of the time this word actually refers abstractly to the benightedness of a ruler.

        Syntactic words
      • nabactobscurities, obscurantisms
      • vibe dark
      • vi.redbe in complete darkness, find oneself completely in the darkCH
      • vipsychfeel that one is in the dark, feel stupid
      • vtoNcausativecause to be in the dark > conceal, obscure
      晻  yǎn OC: qromʔ MC: ʔiɛm 2 AttributionsWD

      àn

        Syntactic words
      • vadNfigurativedark, benightedLZ
      • vipoetic, rare: dark
      • vi0.redchangeit is getting dark
      • vichangebecome dark
      玄  xuán OC: ɡʷeen MC: ɦen 2 AttributionsWD

      Xuán 玄 "very dark reddish-black" (ant. bái 白 "plain white") currently refers to mysterious obscurity of the abstract kind. See MYSTERIOUS

        Syntactic words
      • nabfeaturethe very dark purple colourCH
      • v[adN]what is very dark purple (the colour taken to be that of Heaven)CH
      蒙  méng OC: mooŋ MC: muŋ 2 AttributionsWD

      Měng 蒙 (ant. yào 耀 "bright and clearly visible") refers to psychological dimness, obfuscation of mind.

        Syntactic words
      • nobscurity, obfuscation
      • nabfigurativedarkness > obscurity > ignorance, deception, delusion
      • vadNobscured, darkened; beclouded; obfuscated [deluded][CA]
      • vibe overcast
      蔽  bì OC: peds MC: piɛi 2 AttributionsWD

        Word relations
      • Assoc: 幽/DARK The most current general word for physical shadowiness and obscurity is probably yōu 幽 (ant. míng 明 "bright"), but this word often has lyrical overtones of secluded peace.

        Syntactic words
      • vibe shady and dark
      隱  yǐn OC: qɯnʔ MC: ʔɨn 2 AttributionsWD

      Yǐn 隱, and mì 秘 focus on the inaccessibility to discursinve reasoning of what is mysterious.

        Syntactic words
      • nsubjectdark place
      • vadNfigurativehidden and unclear
      • vibe dark
      • vifigurativebe prone to hiding things from others; be mysterious and enigmatic
      墨  mò OC: mɯɯɡ MC: mək 2 AttributionsWD

        Word relations
      • Ant: 潔 / 絜 / 潔絜洁/PURE Jié 潔/絜 (ant. wū 污 "impure" and zhuó 濁 "dirty") refers abstractly to the absence of any material or immaterial impurity or blemish.

        Syntactic words
      • vi.redbe all dark and black
      • vi0it is dark
      曚  měng OC: mooŋʔ MC: muŋ 1 AttributionWD
        Syntactic words
      • nabfeatureobfuscation of mind
      杳  yǎo OC: qeewʔ MC: ʔeu 1 AttributionWD

      Yǎo 杳 is used in poetry as a general word referring to darkness.

        Syntactic words
      • vidark
      焞  Click here to add pinyin OC:  MC: 1 AttributionWD

      tuī

        Syntactic words
      • vibe dim (of light or stars)
      黑  hēi OC: hmɯɯɡ MC: hək 1 AttributionWD

      Hēi 黑 (ant.* hào 皓 "shiny and bright") is darkness imposed by the intrinsic darkness of pigment on an object. See BLACK.

        Syntactic words
      • vibe dark
      幽昧  yōu mèi OC: qriw mɯɯds MC: ʔi̯u muo̝i 1 AttributionWD
        Syntactic words
      • VPifigurativedark and obcure
      暗昧  àn mèi OC: qɯɯms mɯɯds MC: ʔəm muo̝i 1 AttributionWD
        Syntactic words
      • VPibe undistinguished, be less than well-known
      暗處  àn chù OC: qɯɯms qhljas MC: ʔəm tɕhi̯ɤ 1 AttributionWD
        Syntactic words
      • NPabfeaturedark place> darkness
      沈陰  chén yīn OC: ɡrlum qrɯm MC: ɖim ʔim 1 AttributionWD
        Syntactic words
      • VPibe overcast, be dark
      靉靆  ài dài OC: qɯɯds ɡ-lɯɯds MC: ʔəi dəi 1 AttributionWD
        Syntactic words
      • VPibe dark; be cloudy
      黑暗  hēi àn OC: hmɯɯɡ qɯɯms MC: hək ʔəm 1 AttributionWD
        Syntactic words
      • NPabpsychfigurative: spiritual obfuscation, mental darkness
      冥冥  míng míng MC: -- -- OC: meeŋ meeŋVK 1 AttributionWD
        Syntactic words
      • VPiredbe quite dark and untransparentVK
      青  qīng MC: tsheng OC: tsheeŋCH 1 AttributionWD
        Syntactic words
      • vadNsteely dark blueCH
      翳翳  yī yī MC: 'ej 'ej OC: qee qeeDS 1 AttributionWD
        Syntactic words
      • VPidark and unclearDS
      曭  tǎng OC: thaaŋʔ MC: thɑŋ 0 AttributionsWD
        Syntactic words
      • vidark, veiled (CC)
      烏  wū OC: qaa MC: ʔuo̝ 0 AttributionsWD

      Wū 烏 (ant. hào 皓 "shining white") is quite rare and refers to a high degree of darkness that is without lustre not quite pitch dark.

        Syntactic words
      • vadNdark
      菴  ān OC: qoom MC: ʔəm 0 AttributionsWD
        Syntactic words
      • vi0.redit was getting quite dark
      黮  tǎn OC: kh-luumʔ MC: thəm 0 AttributionsWD
        Syntactic words
      • vidark
      朦朧  méng lóng OC: mooŋ b-rooŋ MC: muŋ luŋ 0 AttributionsWD
        Syntactic words
      • VPadNdark, hazy, dim
      • VPidark, thick-layered
      闇墨  àn mò OC: qɯɯms mɯɯɡ MC: ʔəm mək 0 AttributionsWD
        Syntactic words
      • nabfeaturedarkness
      陰暝  yīn míng OC: qrɯm meeŋ MC: ʔim meŋ 0 AttributionsWD
        Syntactic words
      • VPibe pitch dark
      微  wēi OC: mɯl MC: mɨi 0 AttributionsWD
        Syntactic words
      • vifaded, darkish; inconspicuous

      Existing SW for

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