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Kanji Detail for 闇 - "dark, darkness, ignorant"

闇

  • Meaning

    闇 means "dark, darkness, ignorant."

    1. Dark - Lacking light; unable to see well.

    2. Ignorant - Not understanding reason; foolish.

    3. Darkness - Complete absence of light; gloom.

    4. To hide - To conceal from sight.

    5. Secretly - Quietly; covertly.

    6. Moonless night - A dark night without moonlight.

    7. Illegal - Unofficial; improper.

  • Words using 闇

    • 暗闇 くらやみ Listen darkness; the dark
    • 無闇に むやみに Listen thoughtlessly; recklessly; rashly

  • Origin of 闇

    門, the gate, with 音 inside supplying the reading an. The Shuowen glosses 闇 simply as a shut gate, and so as darkness — the state behind a closed door.

    How to remember it: A gate 門 shut tight, nothing coming through but sound 音 — total darkness.

    Sources: en.wiktionary.org · mojinavi.com

  • Tattoo check: 闇

    • Verified meaning: dark, darkness, ignorant
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read あわ)

    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 闇

    Surnames 闇(あわ)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

    get dark; gloom; disorder

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    close, shut; dark, dismal

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    (literary) to close (a door); to eclipse; confused; ignorant (variant of 暗[an4]); dark (variant of 暗[an4])

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

    Not bright. As in 昏闇 (dim), 闇弱 (weak and dim). | Having a hidden appearance. The Doctrine of the Mean says: "Hidden yet becoming more manifest day by day."

  • Onyomi

    tip

    an(アン) アン

    on(オン) オン

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    kura.i(くらい) くらい

    yami(やみ) やみ

  • Strokes

    tip

    17 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    門 (mon・mongamae・kadogamae)

  • Related Keywords

    dark ignorant darkness concealment illegal moonless night secretly to hide unlawful shadow dim murky obscure gloomy clandestine covert hidden

Sentences including 闇

  • Cats can see in the dark.

  • They felt their way in the dark.

  • Cats have the ability to see in the dark.

  • It was a dark night , with no moon.

  • Small children are afraid of being left alone in the dark.

  • It was impossible for him to take the picture in the dark.

  • The child was afraid of being left alone in the dark.

  • Somebody called my name in the dark.

  • I was afraid of getting lost in the dark.

  • A cat can see in the dark.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 門 (mon・mongamae・kadogamae)

See all kanji with this radical →

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