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Kanji for Dark

The kanji most commonly used for "Dark" are 暗、昧、冥.

Kanji that mean Dark

  • dark, ignorant

    Also associated with to memorize.

    Onyomi: an Kunyomi: ku.reru, kura.i, kura.mu 13 strokes Jōyō

  • dark, obscure

    Also associated with ignorant.

    Onyomi: bai, mai Kunyomi: kura.i, musaboru 9 strokes Jōyō

  • dark

    Also associated with the afterlife, divine power.

    Onyomi: mei, myoh Kunyomi: kura.i 10 strokes Jōyō

  • dim, ambiguous, obscure

    Onyomi: ai Kunyomi: kura.i 17 strokes Jōyō

  • thick, dense, rich

    Onyomi: noh Kunyomi: koi 16 strokes Jōyō

  • dark, darkness, ignorant

    Onyomi: an, on Kunyomi: kura.i, yami 17 strokes Jōyō

  • shadow, dark

    Also associated with to cloud.

    Onyomi: in Kunyomi: kage, kage.ru 11 strokes Jōyō

  • dim, secluded, quiet

    Onyomi: yuu Kunyomi: fuka.i, kasuka, kura.i, shiro.i 9 strokes Jōyō

暗 is darkness as the absence of light, and it is the ordinary word: 暗い (dark), 暗闇 (darkness), 明暗 (light and shade). It also means unseen or done without looking, which is how it gives 暗記 (memorizing by heart) and 暗号 (a code).

闇 is darkness as a thing rather than a condition — the dark itself. 闇夜 is a moonless night, and by extension 闇 means the illicit, as in 闇市, a black market. 陰 is shade, the dark side of something: 日陰 (the shade), 陰気 (gloomy), and the yin of 陰陽.

冥 is the darkness of the world after death, and lives in 冥福, the repose of the dead, rather than in any everyday sense of dark.

昧 and 曖 are between them confined to one word, 曖昧 (ambiguous, vague) — dark in the sense of unclear. 濃 and 褐 are darkness of color only: 濃い is deep or strong, 褐色 is brown.

Before you use Dark kanji

闇 is the character with real weight — it reads as the dark itself, but it also carries the black-market and underworld sense, which may not be what you want. 暗 reads as unlit, and of people as gloomy. 濃 and 褐 only mean deep-colored and brown.

Other meanings to explore

See all kanji by meaning →

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