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Meaning of black in English
Pronunciation
/blæk/
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Verb
black
Definitions
1.
make or become black
Examples
« The smoke blackened the ceiling »
« The ceiling blackened »
Antonyms
whiten
white
Classifying Adjective
black
Definitions
1.
marked by anger or resentment or hostility
Examples
« black looks »
« black words »
Synonyms
angry
2.
stemming from evil characteristics or forces
Examples
« wicked or dishonorable »
« 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 sc »
Synonyms
evil
wicked
3.
offering little or no hope
Examples
« 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 »
Synonyms
hopeless
4.
(of events) having extremely unfortunate or dire consequences
Examples
« bringing ruin »
« 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 fata »
Synonyms
unfortunate
5.
(of the face) made black especially as with suffused blood
Examples
« a face black with fury »
Synonyms
colored
coloured
colorful
6.
extremely dark
Examples
« a black moonless night »
« through the pitch-black woods »
« it was pitch-dark in the celler »
Synonyms
dark
7.
harshly ironic or sinister
Examples
« black humor »
« a grim joke »
« grim laughter »
« fun ranging from slapstick clowning ... to savage mordant wit »
Synonyms
sarcastic
8.
(of intelligence operations) deliberately misleading
Examples
« black propaganda »
Synonyms
covert
9.
distributed or sold illicitly
Examples
« the black economy pays no taxes »
Synonyms
illegal
10.
(used of conduct or character) deserving or bringing disgrace or shame
Examples
« 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 »
Synonyms
dishonorable
dishonourable
11.
(of coffee) without cream or sugar
Synonyms
undiluted
12.
dressed in black
Examples
« a black knight »
« black friars »
Synonyms
clothed
clad
13.
soiled with dirt or soot
Examples
« with feet black from playing outdoors »
« his shirt was black within an hour »
Synonyms
dirty
soiled
unclean
Noun
black
Definitions
1.
the quality or state of the achromatic color of least lightness (bearing the least resemblance to white)
Antonyms
white
whiteness
2.
total absence of light
Examples
« they fumbled around in total darkness »
« in the black of night »
3.
British chemist who identified carbon dioxide and who formulated the concepts of specific heat and latent heat (1728-1799)
4.
popular child actress of the 1930's (born 1927)
5.
a person with dark skin who comes from Africa (or whose ancestors came from Africa)
6.
(board games) the darker pieces
Antonyms
white
7.
black clothing (worn as a sign of mourning)
Examples
« the widow wore black »
Qualitative Adjective
black
Etymology
Old English blæc, of Germanic origin
Definitions
1.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness
Examples
« having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light »
« black leather jackets »
« as black as coal »
« rich black soil »
Antonyms
white
achromatic
2.
of or belonging to a racial group having dark skin especially of sub-Saharan African origin
Examples
« a great people--a black people--...injected new meaning and dignity into the veins of civilization- Martin Luther King Jr. »
Synonyms
African-American
Afro-American
colored
coloured
dark
dark-skinned
negro
negroid
Antonyms
white
caucasian