伸手不见五指

伸手不見五指

shēnshǒubùjiànwǔzhǐ

idiom

Meanings

1 so dark you can't see your own hand
2 pitch black

Characters

Examples

山洞里伸手不见五指。

Shāndòng lǐ shēnshǒubùjiànwǔzhǐ.

It was pitch black inside the cave.

停电那晚，屋里伸手不见五指。

Tíngdiàn nà wǎn, wū lǐ shēnshǒubùjiànwǔzhǐ.

That night the power was out and you couldn't see a thing in the room.

Tips

history

From 《黄绣球》 (Qing dynasty novel by Yi Suo): 黑漆漆的伸手不见五指 — 'pitch black, couldn't see five fingers stretched out'.

memory

Literal: 'stretch out hand, can't see five fingers'. Remember the image of holding your hand right in front of your face and seeing nothing.

Stroke Order

伸 shēn

手 shǒu

不 bù

见 jiàn

五 wǔ

指 zhǐ