black

being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light

• “black leather jackets”
• “as black as coal”
• “rich black soil”

of or belonging to a racial group having dark skin especially of sub-Saharan African origin

• “a great people--a black people--...injected new meaning and dignity into the veins of civilization” Martin Luther King Jr

marked by anger or resentment or hostility

• “black looks”
• “black words”

stemming from evil characteristics or forces; wicked or dishonorable

• “black deeds”
• “a black lie”
• “his black heart has concocted yet another black deed”
• “Darth Vader of the dark side”
• “a dark purpose”
• “dark undercurrents of ethnic hostility”
• “the scheme of some sinister intelligence bent on punishing him” Thomas Hardy

offering little or no hope

• “the future looked black”
• “prospects were bleak”
• “Life in the Aran Islands has always been bleak and difficult” J.M.Synge
• “took a dim view of things”

(of events) having extremely unfortunate or dire consequences; bringing ruin

• “the stock market crashed on Black Friday”
• “a calamitous defeat”
• “the battle was a disastrous end to a disastrous campaign”
• “such doctrines, if true, would be absolutely fatal to my theory” Charles Darwin
• “it is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it” Douglas MacArthur
• “a fateful error”

(of the face) made black especially as with suffused blood

• “a face black with fury”

extremely dark

• “a black moonless night”
• “through the pitch-black woods”
• “it was pitch-dark in the celler”

harshly ironic or sinister

• “black humor”
• “a grim joke”
• “grim laughter”
• “fun ranging from slapstick clowning ... to savage mordant wit”

(of intelligence operations) deliberately misleading

• “black propaganda”

distributed or sold illicitly

• “the black economy pays no taxes”

(used of conduct or character) deserving or bringing disgrace or shame

• “Man...has written one of his blackest records as a destroyer on the oceanic islands” Rachel Carson
• “an ignominious retreat”
• “inglorious defeat”
• “an opprobrious monument to human greed”
• “a shameful display of cowardice”

(of coffee) without cream or sugar

dressed in black

• “a black knight”
• “black friars”

soiled with dirt or soot

• “with feet black from playing outdoors”
• “his shirt was black within an hour”

the quality or state of the achromatic color of least lightness (bearing the least resemblance to white)

total absence of light

• “they fumbled around in total darkness”
• “in the black of night”

British chemist who identified carbon dioxide and who formulated the concepts of specific heat and latent heat (1728-1799)

popular child actress of the 1930''s (born 1927)

a person with dark skin who comes from Africa (or whose ancestors came from Africa)

(board games) the darker pieces

black clothing (worn as a sign of mourning)

• “the widow wore black”

make or become black

• “The smoke blackened the ceiling”
• “The ceiling blackened”