黯淡 (àn dàn) — dim, dull (of light or color); gloomy, bleak (of mood or prospects)

Definition

Literary variant of 暗淡: 'dim, gloomy' for light, color, or prospects. 黯 is the more written-form character; 暗淡 is the common everyday spelling.

adjective
dimdull (of light or color)gloomybleak (of mood or prospects)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 黯淡，。
    Dēng guāng shí fēn àn dàn, wǒ jī hū kàn bú jiàn.
    The light was so dim I could barely see.
  • 黯淡。
    Nà fú huà yòng le hěn duō àn dàn de yán sè.
    That painting uses many dull colors.
  • 黯淡，。
    Jīng jì qián jǐng yī rán àn dàn, dà jiā dōu hěn dān yōu.
    The economic outlook remains gloomy, and everyone is worried.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

黯àndark
淡dànfaint

The senses of 黯 (dark) and 淡 (faint) merge to describe dimness.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
炎
炎yán淡dàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

淡 puts 氵 (water) beside 炎, which gives the sound yán.

Open 淡 →

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