tối đen

Trời tối đen như mực.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Pitch-black; completely dark: Describes a state of absolute darkness where there is no light at all. It emphasizes a profound, often impenetrable, lack of illumination.
   • Figuratively, gloomy or bleak: Can describe a situation, period, or mood that is very dark, hopeless, or depressing.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Trong hang động, mọi thứ tối đen như mực. (Inside the cave, everything was pitch-black.)
  • Trời tối đen, không một vì sao. (The sky was completely dark, without a single star.)
  • Tương lai lúc đó có vẻ tối đen. (The future seemed very bleak at that time.)

Advanced Usage

• Often used in descriptive and literary contexts to create a strong visual or emotional image of darkness.
• Can be intensified with similes, e.g., (black as ink), (dark as the night of the 30th lunar month—a moonless night).

Variants and Related Words

• Tối om (adj): Also means very dark, pitch-dark. It is a common colloquial synonym.
  • Căn phòng tối om. (The room is pitch-dark.)
• Tối mịt (adj): Emphasizes a deep, overwhelming darkness, often with a sense of being lost within it.
  • Rừng cây rậm rạp, tối mịt. (The dense forest was profoundly dark.)

Synonyms

• Pitch-black: Completely dark.
• Jet-black: Intensely black, often used for color but can imply darkness.
• Stygian: (Literary) extremely dark.

Related Idioms

• Tối đen như hũ nút: (As dark as a sealed jar) An idiom emphasizing total, confining darkness.
  • Đường hầm tối đen như hũ nút. (The tunnel was as dark as a sealed jar.)