- 1having the very darkest color, like night or coal a shiny black car black storm clouds
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
with no light - 2without light; completely dark a black night
- 3belonging to a race of people who have dark skin; connected with black people a black writer black culture The term African American is generally preferred to black for Americans whose families originally came from Africa. tea/coffee
- 4without milk Two black coffees, please. compare white dirty
- 5very dirty; covered with dirt chimneys black with smoke Go and wash your hands; they're completely black! angry
- 6full of anger or hatred She's been in a really black mood all day. Rory shot her a black look. depressing
- 7without hope; very depressing The future looks pretty black. It's been another black day with the announcement of further job losses.
- 8(literary) evil or immoral black deeds/lies humor
- 9dealing with unpleasant or terrible things, such as murder, in a humorous way “Good place to bury the bodies,” she joked with black humor. The play is a black comedy. see blackly
color
noun [uncountable, singular] She peered out into the blackness of the night.Idioms
(to hit someone until they are) covered with bruises (= blue, brown, or purple marks on the body)
not as bad as people say he/she/it is Is he really as black as he's painted?
used to say that you should not criticize someone for a fault that you have yourselfSee black in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Check pronunciation: black