black
1. the quality or state of the achromatic color of least lightness (bearing the least resemblance to white) (Freq. 4)
• Syn:
blackness, inkiness
• Ant:
white
• Derivationally related forms:
inky (for: inkiness), black (for: blackness)
• Hypernyms:
achromatic color, achromatic colour
• Hyponyms:
coal black, ebony, jet black, pitch black, sable, soot black
2. total absence of light
- they fumbled around in total darkness
- in the black of night
• Syn:
total darkness, lightlessness, blackness, pitch blackness
• Derivationally related forms:
pitch-black (for: pitch blackness), black (for: blackness), lightless (for: lightlessness)
• Hypernyms:
dark, darkness
3. (board games) the darker pieces
• Ant:
white
• Topics:
chess, chess game, checkers, draughts
• Hypernyms:
man, piece
4. black clothing (worn as a sign of mourning)
- the widow wore black
• Hypernyms:
clothing, article of clothing, vesture, wear, wearable, habiliment
make or become black
- The smoke blackened the ceiling
- The ceiling blackened
• Syn:
blacken, melanize, melanise, nigrify
• Ant:
whiten (for: blacken)
• Derivationally related forms:
melanin (for: melanize)
• Hypernyms:
discolor, discolour, colour, color
• Verb Frames:
- Something ----s
- Somebody ----s something
- Something ----s something
1. being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness;
having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light (Freq. 52)
- black leather jackets
- as black as coal
- rich black soil
• Ant:
white
• See Also:
dark
• Derivationally related forms:
blackness
• Attrubites:
value
2. of or belonging to a racial group having dark skin especially of sub-Saharan African origin (Freq. 4)
- "a great people--a black people--...injected new meaning and dignity into the veins of civilization"- Martin Luther King Jr.
• Ant:
white
• Similar to:
African-American, Afro-American, colored, coloured, dark,
dark-skinned, non-white, negro, negroid
3. marked by anger or resentment or hostility (Freq. 4)
- black looks
- black words
• Similar to:
angry
4. offering little or no hope (Freq. 2)
- the future looked black
- prospects were bleak
- "Life in the Aran Islands has always been bleak and difficult"- J.M.Synge
- took a dim view of things
• Syn:
bleak, dim
• Similar to:
hopeless
• Derivationally related forms:
bleakness (for: bleak)
5. stemming from evil characteristics or forces;
wicked or dishonorable (Freq. 2)
- black deeds
- a black lie
- his black heart has concocted yet another black deed
- Darth Vader of the dark side
- a dark purpose
- dark undercurrents of ethnic hostility
- "the scheme of some sinister intelligence bent on punishing him"-Thomas Hardy
• Syn:
dark, sinister
• Similar to:
evil
• Derivationally related forms:
dark (for: dark), darkness (for: dark)
6. (of events) having extremely unfortunate or dire consequences;
bringing ruin (Freq. 2)
- the stock market crashed on Black Friday
- a calamitous defeat
- the battle was a disastrous end to a disastrous campaign
- "such doctrines, if true, would be absolutely fatal to my theory"- Charles Darwin
- "it is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it"- Douglas MacArthur
- a fateful error
• Syn:
calamitous, disastrous, fatal, fateful
• Similar to:
unfortunate
• Derivationally related forms:
disaster (for: disastrous), calamity (for: calamitous)
7. (of the face) made black especially as with suffused blood (Freq. 1)
- a face black with fury
• Syn:
blackened
• Similar to:
colored, coloured, colorful
8. extremely dark (Freq. 1)
- a black moonless night
- through the pitch-black woods
- it was pitch-dark in the cellar
• Syn:
pitch-black, pitch-dark
• Similar to:
dark
• Derivationally related forms:
pitch blackness (for: pitch-black), blackness
9. harshly ironic or sinister
- black humor
- a grim joke
- grim laughter
- fun ranging from slapstick clowning ... to savage mordant wit
• Syn:
grim, mordant
• Similar to:
sarcastic
• Derivationally related forms:
grimness (for: grim)
10. (of intelligence operations) deliberately misleading
- black propaganda
• Similar to:
covert
11. distributed or sold illicitly
- the black economy pays no taxes
• Syn:
bootleg, black-market, contraband, smuggled
• Similar to:
illegal
• Derivationally related forms:
contraband (for: contraband)
12. (used of conduct or character) deserving or bringing disgrace or shame
- "Man...has written one of his blackest records as a destroyer on the oceanic islands"- Rachel Carson
- an ignominious retreat
- inglorious defeat
- an opprobrious monument to human greed
- a shameful display of cowardice
• Syn:
disgraceful, ignominious, inglorious, opprobrious, shameful
• Similar to:
dishonorable, dishonourable
• Derivationally related forms:
shamefulness (for: shameful), opprobrium (for: opprobrious), ignominy (for: ignominious), ignominiousness (for: ignominious), disgracefulness (for: disgraceful)
13. (of coffee) without cream or sugar
• Similar to:
undiluted
• Derivationally related forms:
blackness
14. soiled with dirt or soot
- with feet black from playing outdoors
- his shirt was black within an hour
• Syn:
smutty
• Similar to:
dirty, soiled, unclean
• Derivationally related forms:
smuttiness (for: smutty), blackness
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