Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Completely dark, pitch-black: Describes an extreme absence of light, where visibility is nearly or totally impossible. It emphasizes a profound, thick darkness.
   • Figuratively, bewildering or unclear: Can describe a situation that is confusing, opaque, or without clarity, as if one is in the dark.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Trong rừng, trời tối mịt, chúng tôi không thể nhìn thấy gì. (In the forest, it was pitch-black; we couldn't see anything.)
  • Cúp điện khiến cả thành phố chìm trong tối mịt. (The blackout plunged the entire city into complete darkness.)
  • Tương lai của dự án này vẫn còn tối mịt. (The future of this project is still completely unclear.)

Advanced Usage

• Used to intensify the state of darkness beyond just "tối" (dark). It often conveys a sense of being lost, disoriented, or enveloped by the dark.

Variants and Related Words

• Tối om (adj): Also means very dark, pitch-dark. It is a close synonym.
  • Căn phòng tối om. (The room is pitch-dark.)
• Tối đen (adj): Dark black, often used similarly to describe deep darkness.
  • Bầu trời tối đen. (The sky is dark black.)

Synonyms

• Pitch-black: Absolutely dark, without any light.
• Impenetrably dark: So dark that light or sight cannot pass through.
• Inky: Deeply and uniformly dark.

Related Idioms

• Tối như đêm ba mươi: As dark as the night of the 30th (of the lunar month, when there is no moon). A common simile emphasizing total darkness.
  • Đường hầm này tối như đêm ba mươi. (This tunnel is as dark as the night of the 30th.)

adj

1. completely dark