pitch-black

/'pitʃ'blæk/ Cách viết khác : (pitch-dark) /'pitʃ'dɑ:k/

Thân thiện

The hiker uses a flashlight to see the path through the pitch-black forest.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Completely or extremely dark; having no light: Describes an absence of light so complete that it resembles the color of pitch (a thick, black, sticky substance). It implies an intense, profound darkness where nothing is visible.

Usage

• Used to describe environments, times, or objects that are utterly devoid of light.
• Often used to emphasize the intensity of the darkness, more so than simply saying "dark" or "very dark."
• Commonly appears before a noun (attributive use) or after a linking verb like "was" or "became" (predicative use).

Examples

• Attributive use (before a noun):
  • We got lost in the pitch-black forest.
  • He stared into the pitch-black hole.
• Predicative use (after a linking verb):
  • The room was pitch-black when I turned off the lights.
  • Without the stars, the night became pitch-black.

Advanced Usage

• "pitch-black darkness": A common collocation that reinforces the idea, though "pitch-black" alone is sufficient.
  • The power outage left the city in pitch-black darkness.
• Used figuratively to describe something that is morally dark, obscure, or hopeless, though this is less common.
  • His mood was pitch-black after hearing the news.

Variants and Related Words

• Pitch-dark (adjective): A direct synonym with identical meaning and usage.
  • It was pitch-dark inside the cave.
• Jet-black (adjective): Typically describes a deep, glossy black color of an object (like hair or paint), not necessarily the absence of light in a space.
• Inky (adjective): Suggests a deep, wet-looking blackness, often used for darkness or water.

Synonyms

• Jet-black: (for color, not light)
• Inky: (for a deep, wet-seeming blackness)
• Stygian: (literary, implies a darkness like that of the mythical river Styx)
• Lightless: (completely without light)

Antonyms

• Bright
• Radiant
• Illuminated
• Well-lit

Related Phrases and Idioms

• (As) black/dark as pitch: An idiom with the same meaning as "pitch-black."
  • The old cellar was as dark as pitch.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. extremely dark
   • a black moonless night
   • through the pitch-black woods
   • it was pitch-dark in the cellar

Từ đồng nghĩa

• black
• pitch-dark