Black Definition & Meaning
black
- adjective
- being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light; "black leather jackets"; "as black as coal"; "rich black soil"
- of or belonging to a racial group having dark skin especially of sub-Saharan African origin; "a great people--a black people--...injected new meaning and dignity into the veins of civilization"- Martin Luther King Jr.
- marked by anger or resentment or hostility; "black looks"; "black words"
- offering little or no hope; "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"
- stemming from evil characteristics or forces; 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 scheme of some sinister intelligence bent on punishing him"-Thomas Hardy
- (of events) having extremely unfortunate or dire consequences; 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 fatal to my theory"- Charles Darwin; "it is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it"- Douglas MacArthur; "a fateful error"
- (of the face) made black especially as with suffused blood; "a face black with fury"
- extremely dark; "a black moonless night"; "through the pitch- black woods"; "it was pitch-dark in the cellar"
- harshly ironic or sinister; "black humor"; "a grim joke"; "grim laughter"; "fun ranging from slapstick clowning ... to savage mordant wit"
- (of intelligence operations) deliberately misleading; "black propaganda"
- distributed or sold illicitly; "the black economy pays no taxes"
- (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"
- (of coffee) without cream or sugar
- soiled with dirt or soot; "with feet black from playing outdoors"; "his shirt was black within an hour"
- noun
- the quality or state of the achromatic color of least lightness (bearing the least resemblance to white)
- total absence of light; "they fumbled around in total darkness"; "in the black of night"
- British chemist who identified carbon dioxide and who formulated the concepts of specific heat and latent heat (1728-1799)
- popular child actress of the 1930's (born in 1928)
- a person with dark skin who comes from Africa (or whose ancestors came from Africa)
- (board games) the darker pieces
- black clothing (worn as a sign of mourning); "the widow wore black"
- verb
- make or become black; "The smoke blackened the ceiling"; "The ceiling blackened"
"Black" in song lyrics
See how black is used in real songs:
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"She's in love with the brother from the ghetto, who is black"
2 Live Crew — My Seven Bizzos -
"Some are white, but most are black"
2 Live Crew — Here I Come -
"Of that obstacles that you face when you're young, black"
3 Melancholy Gypsies — Young Man
Words that rhyme with black
Usage tips for "black"
Understanding the precise definition of a word helps you use it with confidence. When using "black" in your writing, consider whether you need the word itself or one of its synonyms — subtle differences in meaning can change the tone of a sentence. If you're writing poetry or song lyrics, check the rhymes for black to find words that pair well.