black
black — adjective
1. of the deepest dark shade, like charcoal or a moonless sky.
of the deepest dark shade, like charcoal or a moonless sky.
Nina wore a black coat and boots to the winter concert.
black + clothing noun for colour
The puppy has one white paw and one black ear.
By evening, the bananas had turned black on the kitchen shelf.
turn black after a change
A black taxi stopped outside the hotel during the rain.
After the fire, smoke left black marks above every window.
- black coat
- black hair
- black marks
- black shoes
- turn black
Grammar Patterns
black + noun
be/look/turn black
Usage Note
Use this sense for the colour of objects, clothes, hair, or marks. Distinguish from sense 2, which describes a place or time with no light.
Common Mistakes
2. with no light in it, so it is hard or impossible to see.
with no light in it, so it is hard or impossible to see.
The house went black when the storm cut the power.
go black = lose light or power
At midnight, the path was black beyond the last street lamp.
The stage stayed black for a second before the music began.
be black in a performance space
Inside the cave, everything looked black after sunset.
By six o'clock, the farm road was already black.
- go black
- black night
- black room
- black sky
- black stage
- dark
the most common everyday word
- pitch-black
stronger; stresses complete darkness
- unlit
focuses on the lack of lamps or lighting
Grammar Patterns
be/go black
black room / sky / road
Usage Note
Usually used about rooms, roads, stages, skies, or screens when light disappears. Distinguish from sense 1, which is about actual colour.
3. used for people with dark skin, especially with African family roots, and for th
used for people with dark skin, especially with African family roots, and for their culture or communities.
Our library has a new shelf for books by Black writers.
Black + noun for people or culture
The school invited two Black musicians to lead the workshop.
Her class is studying Black history through stories from Alabama.
Black history
The film follows three Black families in south London.
Many visitors came for the museum's Black culture festival.
- Black community
- Black culture
- Black families
- Black history
- Black writers
- African American
fits many Black people in the United States, but not all
- of African descent
more formal and broader in international writing
Grammar Patterns
Black + noun
Black people
Black culture / history / community
Usage Note
Often written with a capital B when it refers to people, identity, or culture. Distinguish from noun/3 in another chunk: this adjective use before a noun is the normal modern wording, as in 'Black writers'.
Common Mistakes
4. served with no milk or cream mixed in.
served with no milk or cream mixed in.
Jules drinks his coffee black on early work mornings.
drink coffee black
Could I have two black coffees for table seven?
black coffee in a cafe order
Mina takes her tea black when she has a cold.
The waiter brought black coffee with toast and orange jam.
After dinner, Grandpa always asks for his tea black, with no milk.
- black coffee
- black tea
- drink it black
- take your coffee black
- without milk
plain explanatory wording
- plain
can mean no extras, though it is less exact
- straight
informal, especially for coffee
Grammar Patterns
black coffee
black tea
drink / take + coffee or tea + black
Usage Note
Used mainly after coffee or tea, or after verbs such as 'drink' and 'take'. It does not mean the drink looks dark; it means no milk has been added.
Common Mistakes
5. made very dirty by dust, soot, oil, or earth.
made very dirty by dust, soot, oil, or earth.
By noon, the mechanic's hands were black with engine oil.
black with + dirty substance
After the camping trip, our socks came home black with mud.
The old kettle looked black from years of smoke.
Coal dust left the miners' faces black at the tunnel gate.
resulting dirty appearance
When Leo cleaned the chimney, soot turned his shirt black.
- black with mud
- black with oil
- black with soot
- black hands
- black face
Grammar Patterns
black with soot / mud / oil
black hands / nails / face
Usage Note
Often followed by 'with' plus the substance that caused the dirt, such as soot, mud, or oil. Distinguish from sense 1, where the black colour is natural or intended.
6. showing strong anger, hate, or bitter resentment.
showing strong anger, hate, or bitter resentment.
Mara gave her brother a black look across the dinner table.
black look = angry expression
After the vote, the manager left the room in a black mood.
in a black mood
Owen's face went black with anger when the lie came out.
go black with anger
After the referee's final call, the coach gave the bench a black stare.
black stare = angry look
One black stare from Aunt Rosa ended the boys' argument.
- black look
- black mood
- black stare
- black with anger
Grammar Patterns
black mood
black look / stare
go black with anger
Usage Note
Usually appears in literary or dramatic descriptions such as 'a black look' or 'black with anger'. Distinguish from adjective/7 in the other chunk, which is about hopeless situations rather than a person's anger.
7. showing that a situation is likely to end badly and giving people almost no reas
showing that a situation is likely to end badly and giving people almost no reason to feel hopeful.
By evening, the doctor's silence made the family's future look black.
black outlook = hopeless future
After three layoffs, the factory's future looked black to everyone in town.
look + black
After the river flooded the farms, shop owners saw a black winter ahead.
black winter = hopeless period
By winter, even the mayor said the flood rescue outlook was black.
- black future
- black outlook
- black picture
- black prospects
- look black
Grammar Patterns
look/seem + black
black + future/outlook/prospects
Usage Note
Often used with nouns such as future, outlook, picture, and prospects, or after verbs like look and seem. Distinguish from sense 2 (DARK): this sense is about a hopeless outlook, not lack of light.
Common Mistakes
8. morally very wrong, or connected with cruel and harmful intentions.
morally very wrong, or connected with cruel and harmful intentions.
The judge called the attack a black deed against an old man.
black deed = wicked act
In the story, the king hides a black heart behind his smile.
black heart
After the fire, villagers whispered about the merchant's black deeds.
black deeds = wicked acts
At supper, Grandma Mei warned that revenge grows from black thoughts.
- black deed
- black heart
- black lies
- black thoughts
- black soul
Grammar Patterns
black + deed/heart/lie
black + abstract noun
Usage Note
Most often appears before nouns such as deed, lie, heart, soul, or thoughts, especially in dramatic or literary style. Distinguish from sense 6 (ANGRY): that sense shows resentment, while this one judges character as morally bad.
Common Mistakes
9. using jokes to talk about death, crime, or other shocking subjects.
using jokes to talk about death, crime, or other shocking subjects.
The play uses black humour to talk about death in a small village.
black humour + terrible subject
Many readers laughed, although the novel's black jokes came from war.
black jokes
At the film club, Sara defended black comedy as honest, not cruel.
During the long hospital strike, the cartoon page used black humour.
- black humour
- black comedy
- black joke
- black satire
- light-hearted
describes cheerful humour with no dark subject
Grammar Patterns
black humour/comedy/joke
black + noun for comic style
Usage Note
Usually comes before nouns such as humour, comedy, joke, or satire. The language sounds funny on the surface, but the topic is death, violence, illness, or another painful subject.
Common Mistakes
Covered with bruises from being hit hard.
The bully beat the smaller boy black and blue.
After the fight, his arms were black and blue.
Criticizing someone for a fault that you also have.
Sara called me lazy, but that's the pot calling the kettle black.
When he complained about her lateness, it was the pot calling the kettle black.
black — noun
1. the darkest colour, seen in things like coal, ink, or a night sky with no moon.
the darkest colour, seen in things like coal, ink, or a night sky with no moon.
The designer used black and gold on the concert poster.
black and gold
Her cat's fur is mostly white with a little black.
a little black
The printer ran out of black before the school notices were finished.
run out of black
A thin line of black around the map made the border clearer.
At sunset, the sky turned from blue to deep black.
- in black
- a touch of black
- black and gold
- deep black
- run out of black
- white
the opposite colour at the light end of the scale
Grammar Patterns
in black
a touch of black
run out of black
Usage Note
Usually uncountable when it names the colour itself or black ink or paint. Distinguish from adjective sense 1, where 'black' directly describes a noun such as 'a black coat'.
Common Mistakes
2. photographs, films, or pictures made with no colour, showing only dark, light, a
photographs, films, or pictures made with no colour, showing only dark, light, and grey tones.
The wedding album was shot in black and white.
in black and white
This old TV still shows cartoons in black and white.
Noa printed the portrait in black and white for art class.
print in black and white
In the film, the opening wedding scene shifts to black and white.
Our school paper printed the class photo in black and white.
- in black and white
- shot in black and white
- print in black and white
- black-and-white film
- black-and-white photo
- monochrome
broader and slightly more technical; can include a single colour besides black
- greyscale
technical term, especially for digital images
- colour
used when images include a full range of colours
Grammar Patterns
in black and white
shot in black and white
print in black and white
Usage Note
Mostly used after 'in' for photos, film, television, and printed images. Distinguish from sense 1, which names the colour itself rather than a style with no colour.
Common Mistakes
3. a noun sometimes used for a person with black or dark brown skin, but many peopl
a noun sometimes used for a person with black or dark brown skin, but many people find this form rude and prefer 'Black person' or 'Black people'.
The editor changed 'blacks' to 'Black people' in Monday's article.
preferred wording: Black people
On the old census form, blacks and whites were listed separately.
The museum rewrote its labels to avoid the noun black.
avoid the noun black
An older report called him a black, which readers now dislike.
Several Black writers said the noun black sounded cold in interviews.
- Black person
preferred modern wording for one person
- Black people
preferred wording when speaking about a group
- African American
fits many Black people in the United States, but not all
Grammar Patterns
a black
blacks
Usage Note
Often avoided as a standalone noun in modern English. Writers usually prefer 'Black person' or 'Black people', especially outside historical quotations or discussions about wording. Distinguish from adjective sense 3, which is the normal form before another noun.
Common Mistakes
black — verb
1. to make something turn black by adding paint, smoke, dirt, or another dark layer
to make something turn black by adding paint, smoke, dirt, or another dark layer, or to turn black yourself.
Aiko blacked the stove pipe with thick paint before winter came.
black + object for making a surface dark
By morning, the cut apple had blacked around the seeds.
intransitive: blacked around the seeds
Smoke from the fire blacked the kitchen ceiling in one night.
black + surface with smoke damage
Ravi blacked his boots before the school parade on Friday.
Years of smoke blacked the shop sign above the bakery door.
smoke blacked + object
- black the boots
- black the stove pipe
- black with smoke
- black around the edges
Grammar Patterns
black + noun
black + with + smoke / dirt
[surface / object] + black
Usage Note
Sense 1 can be transitive or intransitive. With a direct object, it means putting a dark layer on something; without one, it describes the surface itself turning black.
Common Mistakes
2. if a union or similar group blacks a business, goods, or workers, it orders its
if a union or similar group blacks a business, goods, or workers, it orders its members not to deal with them.
Dock workers blacked the cargo from that firm after the wage dispute.
organization subject + black + goods
The union blacked three drivers who crossed the picket line.
black + worker in a labor dispute
For six weeks, printers blacked the paper supplier in Bristol.
Once the shop was blacked, no member would unload its trucks.
passive: be blacked by organized workers
The federation threatened to black any company that cut safety pay.
- black a company
- black goods
- black a worker
- be blacked by the union
Grammar Patterns
black + goods / company / worker
be blacked by + union or group
Usage Note
Usually takes an organization as subject and a business, goods, or workers as object. Common in labor disputes; compared with the broader verb 'boycott', this sense often implies an organized ban on members handling the target.
Common Mistakes
Word family
Synonym discussion
Sense: adjective/1
'Black' is the normal everyday word for the darkest colour, so it works for clothes, hair, ink, smoke marks, and many other ordinary things. 'Dark' is broader and weaker: a dark coat or dark room is not always truly black. 'Jet-black' is stronger and more vivid, often used when something is completely black and shiny, such as jet-black hair. 'Charcoal' is mainly a design or colour-name word for a deep grey that is close to black, not pure black itself. 'Ebony' is also more literary or decorative, often suggesting a rich, polished black. In most learner situations, choose 'black' first: 'a black coat', 'black coffee', 'the screen went black'. Choose 'dark' when the colour is only generally deep, not fully black.
Common collocations
Adverbs
- almost black
- completely black
- deep black
Phrases
- go black
- turn black
- in black
Prepositions
- black with (smoke / mud / anger)
Etymology
Modern English 'black' came through Middle English from Old English 'blaec', the usual word for the darkest colour. It goes back to older Germanic forms linked with the idea of something burned or darkened. From that basic colour meaning, English later extended the word to darkness, dirt, gloomy or harmful situations, and the verb meaning 'make black'. The noun use for the colour is also very old.