One of the best Japanese Kanji dictionary.

Share this page

Kanji Detail for 暗 - "dark, ignorant"

暗

  • Meaning

    暗 means "dark, ignorant." Also associated with to memorize.

    1. Dark - Lacking light; dim; hard to see.

    2. Ignorant - Not understanding principles; foolish.

    3. Darkness - Gloom; shadows.

    4. Secretly - Covertly; stealthily.

    5. To memorize - To learn by heart.

  • Words using 暗

    • 暗殺 あんさつ Listen assassination
    • 真っ暗 まっくら Listen pitch-dark; pitch-black; completely dark
    • 明暗 めいあん Listen light and darkness; light and shade
    • 暗に あんに Listen implicitly; indirectly; tacitly
    • 暗礁 あんしょう Listen reef; sunken rock; unforeseen difficulty
    • 暗号 あんごう Listen code; password; cipher
    • 暗黙 あんもく Listen tacit; unspoken; implicit
    • 暗雲 あんうん Listen dark clouds; threatening signs; ominous indications

  • Four-character idioms with 暗

    • 疑心暗鬼 ぎしんあんき Listen suspicion will raise bogies; once you suspect something, everything else will look suspicious; jumping at shadows
    • 如法暗夜 にょほうあんや Listen total (utter) darkness
    • 暗中模索 あんちゅうもさく Listen groping in the dark; exploring new avenues without having any clues
    • 暗中飛躍 あんちゅうひやく Listen behind-the-scenes maneuvering; behind-the-scenes manoeuvering; secret maneuvers
    • 暗送秋波 あんそうしゅうは Listen giving an amorous sidelong look; casting an amorous glance (at); playing up to someone behind the scenes
    • 暗雲低迷 あんうんていめい Listen gathering dark clouds; being under the shadow of

  • Tattoo check: 暗

    • Verified meaning: dark, ignorant
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read あど, あとう, あん, はらい)
    • Also carries these associations: to memorize
    • Traditionally considered inauspicious in names — Japanese readers may find it an unlucky choice. Check the meanings above carefully before using it on skin.

    A single kanji rarely maps one-to-one onto an English word. Read the meanings and associations above as a set — a character that fits the dictionary definition can still carry a connotation you did not intend.

  • Name readings of 暗

    Given names 暗(あん)Listen 暗(ひかげ)Listen

    Surnames 暗(あど)Listen 暗(あとう)Listen 暗(はらい)Listen

  • Compare with other kanji that mean the same thing:

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    darkness; disappear; shade; informal; grow dark; be blinded

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    dark; obscure; in secret, covert

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    variant of 暗[an4]

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    dark, gloomy; obscure; secret, covert

    XSZD Xuéshēng Zìdiǎn (學生字典) - Student's Dictionary

    Not bright. Also written as 闇. | Anything done secretly is called 暗. Such as 暗探 (secret agent), 暗殺 (assassination), 暗炮臺 (hidden battery), 暗射地圖 (blank map).

  • Onyomi

    tip

    an(アン) アン

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    ku.reru(く-れる) く-れる

    kura.i(くらい) くらい

    kura.mu(くら-む) くら-む

  • Strokes

    tip

    13 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    日 (hi・hihen・nichi・nichihen)

  • Related Keywords

    dark ignorant to memorize darkness learned gloomy obscure secretly dim murky shadow hidden mysterious recite

Sentences including 暗

  • It was dark and cold in the room.

  • Come home before it gets dark.

  • It was dark when he came in.

  • It was dark when i reached the hotel.

  • She is very afraid of the dark.

  • I reached the village before dark.

  • Don't read books in a dark place.

  • Cats can see in the dark.

  • He came back after dark.

  • It's not good to read in a dark room.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 日 (hi・hihen・nichi・nichihen)

See all kanji with this radical →

Share This Page

Share this link via

Or copy link