Synonyms of black

black 1 of 3

adjective

ˈblak 

1

as in ebony

having the color of soot or coal

we adopted a little black kitten

Synonyms & Similar Words

• ebony
• dark
• sable
• raven
• pitch-black
• pitch-dark
• dusky
• blackish
• pitchy
• inky
• brunet

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• white
• light
• pale
• bright
• brilliant
• palish

2

as in dark

causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer

the Friday of the stock market crash was indeed a black day for the country

Synonyms & Similar Words

• dark
• gray
• bleak
• somber
• lonely
• blue
• depressive
• depressing
• darkening
• desolate
• solemn
• murky
• cold
• lonesome
• morbid
• depressed
• miserable
• chill
• funereal
• sullen
• wretched
• gloomy
• morose
• sad
• cheerless
• disconsolate
• cloudy
• dismal
• saturnine
• oppressive
• sepulchral
• elegiac
• dreary
• lugubrious
• glum
• forlorn
• dire
• melancholy
• comfortless
• plutonian
• godforsaken
• tenebrous
• Cimmerian
• drear
• negative
• unhappy
• desperate
• dreich
• tenebrific
• sunless
• dull
• dim
• low
• mournful
• melancholic
• hopeless
• menacing
• dejected
• down
• droopy
• woebegone
• distressing
• discouraging
• grim
• inconsolable
• woeful
• mirthless
• despondent
• drab
• upsetting
• pessimistic
• colorless
• disheartening
• dispiriting
• distressful
• sorrowful
• dismaying
• hangdog
• plaintive
• lamentable
• threatening
• discomfiting
• dour
• lowering
• lowery

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• bright
• gay
• friendly
• cheerful
• gay
• festive
• cheery
• cordial
• comforting
• sunshiny
• merry
• jolly
• joyful
• joyous
• buoyant
• blithe
• optimistic
• mirthful
• cheering
• encouraging
• hopeful
• heartwarming
• blithesome
• jocund
• lighthearted
• lightsome

3

as in swarthy

not having a light complexion

a black Irishman, Tyrone Power had the classic looks of a Hollywood leading man

Synonyms & Similar Words

• dark
• swarthy
• swart
• brunet

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• light
• pale
• pallid
• ashen
• ashy
• pasty
• sallow
• wan
• peaked
• palish
• peaky

4

as in darkened

being without light or without much light

on a black night such as this, the imagination runs wild

Synonyms & Similar Words

• darkened
• dark
• murky
• dusky
• darkish
• obscured
• dusk
• somber
• obscure
• dim
• unlit
• dimmed
• lightless
• pitch-black
• darkling
• darksome
• gloomy
• pitch-dark
• stygian
• tenebrous
• pitchy
• gray
• rayless
• caliginous
• tenebrific
• crepuscular
• twilit
• moonless
• starless
• pale
• misty
• shadowy
• shady
• lackluster
• dulled
• cloudy
• clouded
• dull
• leaden
• foggy
• fuliginous
• smoggy
• shadowlike
• sunless
• soupy
• befogged
• beclouded

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• light
• bright
• luminous
• brilliant
• illuminated
• shining
• lit
• lucent
• sparkling
• radiant
• incandescent
• lucid
• illumined
• resplendent
• glaring
• glowing
• glossy
• lightsome
• shiny
• lambent
• brightened
• effulgent
• beaming
• beamy
• alight
• lustrous
• relucent
• aglitter
• ultrabright
• highlighted
• agleam
• sunlit
• moonlit
• moony
• ablaze
• spotlighted
• starlit
• floodlit

5

as in blackened

not clean

after mopping the floor, the water in the bucket was black

Synonyms & Similar Words

• blackened
• stained
• dusty
• filthy
• muddy
• dirty
• nasty
• smudged
• dingy
• grimy
• greasy
• messy
• soiled
• grubby
• unclean
• grungy
• sordid
• mucky
• foul
• bedraggled
• begrimed
• polluted
• smutty
• sloppy
• draggled
• contaminated
• uncleanly
• chaotic
• cruddy
• grotty
• sullied
• besmirched
• bemired
• befouled
• confused
• tainted
• messed
• impure
• unwashed
• littered
• unsterilized
• scruffy
• sooty
• insanitary
• rumpled
• uncleaned
• unsanitary
• unsterile
• slovenly
• disordered
• cluttered
• shabby
• unkempt
• disheveled
• muddled
• jumbled
• untidy
• defiled
• raunchy
• squalid
• disarranged
• skanky
• fuliginous
• sleazy
• gunky
• mussed
• mussy
• germy
• scuzzy
• collied
• disarrayed
• crocked

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• stainless
• clean
• pure
• spotless
• unsullied
• clear
• immaculate
• unstained
• cleanly
• unsoiled
• ultraclean
• spick-and-span
• limpid
• cleaned
• neat
• bleached
• whitened
• orderly
• shiny
• tidy
• ordered
• groomed
• combed
• cleansed
• bright
• perfect
• sparkling
• untouched
• purified
• flawless
• unspotted
• virgin
• unblemished
• wholesome
• untainted
• unpolluted
• undefiled
• taintless

black

2 of 3

noun

as in blackness

a time or place of little or no light

we had to find our way on back roads in the black of night

Synonyms & Similar Words

• dark
• blackness
• shadows
• darkness
• night
• dusk
• twilight
• gloom
• midnight
• candlelight
• shade
• murk
• semidarkness
• umbra
• gloaming
• blackout
• dullness
• grayness
• paleness
• cloudiness
• umbrage
• dimness
• somberness
• murkiness
• haziness
• faintness
• gloominess
• half-light
• brownout
• mistiness
• shadiness
• dimout
• fogginess

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• light
• glow
• brightness
• glare
• day
• daylight
• brilliance
• blaze
• lightness
• sunlight
• moonlight
• starlight
• sunshine
• radiance
• shine
• luminescence
• luminosity
• luminance
• effulgence
• radiancy
• incandescence
• luminousness

black

3 of 3

verb

chiefly British

as in to boycott

Related Words

• boycott
• blackball

Dissimilar Words

• deal
• traffic
• trade
• bargain
• merchandise
• negotiate
• barter
• transact
• exchange
• swap
• resell
• horse-trade
• auction
• rebuy

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of black

Adjective

Flames and thick black smoke rose from the aircraft as rescue crews rushed in to douse it with fire retardant. — Maria Aguilar Prieto, CNN Money, 7 Sep. 2026

Despite her designs’ frank sensuality, all the harnesses and black leather, her real kink is Hermès’s craftsmanship. — Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2026

Noun

Saturated in velvety blues, reds, and blacks, Zumthor’s surfaces all but vibrate; the subtle variations in the application of the paint and the alchemy of the pigment on the concrete substrate bring the walls maximally to life. — Katy Barkan, Artforum, 1 Sep. 2026

Discounts vary depending on size and color with the lowest price on the queen comforter in black for $21. — Toni Sutton, PEOPLE, 1 Sep. 2026

Phrases Containing black

• black beast
• black hole
• black market
• black out