漆黑 (qī hēi) — pitch-black, completely dark | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

漆黑 is an emphatic "pitch-black" — total absence of light. Stronger than 黑暗 (dark, also figurative) and more vivid than 黑 (the color black); 阴暗 leans toward dim/gloomy.

adjective

pitch-blackcompletely dark

Examples

漆黑，。
Wài miàn qī hēi yí piàn, shén me dōu kàn bú jiàn.
It's pitch-black outside; you can't see anything.
漆黑，。
Nà tiáo xiǎo xiàng qī hēi, wǒ bù gǎn yí gè rén zǒu.
That alley is pitch-black; I dare not walk alone.
，漆黑。
Tā de shǒu shàng zhān le méi huī, qī hēi de.
His hands were covered in coal dust, pitch-black.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

漆qīlacquer

The black of 漆 applied to 黑 gives pitch-black.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

水水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

桼

桼qī漆qī

Same sound today

漆 adds 水 (water) to 桼 (resin used to make varnish), which was the earlier form of the word.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 黑 seems to come from drawing a head marked with dots, usually read as facial tattoos.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Colors

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