黯 (àn): deep dark; gloomy

Meanings

1 deep dark; gloomy
2 dim; sombre; lustreless
3 dejected; downcast

Characters

黯

àn

gloomy; dim

Examples

听到坏消息，他黯然神伤。

Tīngdào huài xiāoxi, tā ànránshénshāng.

Hearing the bad news, he was inconsolably crushed.

丈夫去世后，她过着黯淡的生活。

Zhàngfu qùshì hòu, tā guò zhe àndàn de shēnghuó.

After her husband's death she lived a withdrawn and joyless life.

昏暗的路灯让小巷显得黯然凄凉。

Hūn'àn de lùdēng ràng xiǎoxiàng xiǎnde ànrán qīliáng.

The dim streetlamps gave the alley an air of desolation.

Tips

usage

àn is bound — it always appears with a partner. Two compound families. (1) Visual dimness: 黯淡 (dim, lustreless — of light, colour, prospects), 昏暗 (dim, murky — note this is the synonym 暗 not 黯). (2) Emotional gloom: 黯然 (dejected, downcast — adverbial; the workhorse compound), 黯然失色 (pale by comparison, eclipsed), 黯然神伤 (heart-stricken, low-spirited), 黯然销魂 (dispirited to the depths of one's soul — from Jiang Yan's 《别赋》).

mistakes

Don't confuse 黯 (this entry, 'gloomy', 21 strokes) with 暗 ('dark', 13 strokes). Same pronunciation, overlapping meanings. Quick rule: 暗 is the everyday word for 'dark / hidden / secret' — 黑暗, 暗号. 黯 is reserved for emotional darkness and lustreless colour, mostly in literary compounds. If the topic is mood or fading splendour, prefer 黯; otherwise reach for 暗.

Components

radical

黑 hēi

black

Left black radical (Kangxi #203). The semantic anchor: 黯 starts from physical darkness and extends to dim colour, faded splendour, and emotional gloom. Same radical groups 黝 (dark green-black), 默 (silent — going dark), 黛 (dark blue-black eyebrow pigment).

phonetic

音 yīn

sound; supplying the sound

Right phonetic 音 — supplies the sound (yīn → àn, an irregular but attested shift in the same phonetic family). The same phonetic anchors 暗 (dark — the everyday synonym), 谙 (familiar with), 鹌 (quail). Recognising 音 as a sound-bearer for àn unlocks the family.