black-and-white

A form of black and white — A police patrol car.

Opposite

Meanings

adjectiveblack-and-white (comparative more black-and-white, superlative most black-and-white)

comparative more black-and-white · superlative most black-and-white · alternative black and white · alternative black-or-white · alternative black/white

  1. alternativeAlternative form of black and white (when used attributively).
nounblack-and-white (plural black-and-whites)

plural black-and-whites · alternative black and white · alternative black-or-white · alternative black/white

  1. alternativeAlternative form of black and white.

    [T]he news bunny ran up to him, saying, "Officer, did you have trouble catching up with Batman? Was it an exciting chase?" The surfer cop struck a semi-heroic pose for the camera and said, "Weak sauce." Then he quickly walked Batman to the black-and-white, where he was put into the backseat.

    2006, Joseph Wambaugh, Hollywood Station […], New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 237

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivenot having or not capable of producing colors

Opposite

adjectiveof a situation that is sharply divided into mutually exclusive categories

Similar

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

Afrikaans swart-en-wit, swart-en-wit
  • swart-en-witusing shades of grey/gray
  • swart-en-witdisplaying images in shades of grey/gray
Basque zuribeltz, monokromatiko
  • zuribeltzdisplaying images in shades of grey/gray
  • monokromatikodisplaying images in shades of grey/gray
Chinese Mandarin 黑白, 黑白
  • 黑白 (hēibái)using shades of grey/gray
  • 黑白 (hēibái)displaying images in shades of grey/gray
Czech černobílý, černobílý
  • černobílýusing shades of grey/gray
  • černobílýdisplaying images in shades of grey/gray
Dutch zwart-wit, zwart-wit
  • zwart-witusing shades of grey/gray
  • zwart-witdisplaying images in shades of grey/gray
Esperanto nigrblanka, negroblanka
  • nigrblankausing shades of grey/gray
  • negroblankadisplaying images in shades of grey/gray
Finnish mustavalko-, mustavalkoinen
  • mustavalko-using shades of grey/gray
  • mustavalkoinenusing shades of grey/gray
  • mustavalko-displaying images in shades of grey/gray
French noir et blanc, noir et blanc
  • noir et blancusing shades of grey/gray
  • noir et blancdisplaying images in shades of grey/gray
German schwarzweiß, monochrome
  • schwarzweißusing shades of grey/gray
  • monochromeusing shades of grey/gray
  • schwarzweißdisplaying images in shades of grey/gray
  • monochromedisplaying images in shades of grey/gray
Greek ασπρόμαυρος
  • ασπρόμαυρος (asprómavros)using shades of grey/gray
Hungarian fekete-fehér
  • fekete-fehérusing shades of grey/gray
Italian bianco e nero
  • bianco e nerodisplaying images in shades of grey/gray
Japanese 黒白, 白黒
  • 黒白 (kuroshiro)using shades of grey/gray
  • 白黒 (shirokuro)using shades of grey/gray
  • 白黒 (shirokuro)displaying images in shades of grey/gray
Korean 흑백, 흑백
  • 흑백 (heukbaek)using shades of grey/gray
  • 흑백 (heukbaek)displaying images in shades of grey/gray
Lithuanian nespalvotas
  • nespalvotasdisplaying images in shades of grey/gray
Norwegian Bokmål svarthvit, svartkvit
  • svarthvitusing shades of grey/gray
  • svartkvitusing shades of grey/gray
  • svarthvitdisplaying images in shades of grey/gray
  • svartkvitdisplaying images in shades of grey/gray
Polish czarno-biały, monochromatyczny
  • czarno-białyusing shades of grey/gray
  • monochromatycznyusing shades of grey/gray
  • czarno-białydisplaying images in shades of grey/gray
  • monochromatycznydisplaying images in shades of grey/gray
Portuguese preto e branco, preto e branco
  • preto e brancousing shades of grey/gray
  • preto e brancodisplaying images in shades of grey/gray
Romanian alb-negru, alb-negru
  • alb-negruusing shades of grey/gray
  • alb-negrudisplaying images in shades of grey/gray
Russian чёрно-бе́лый, чёрно-бе́лый
  • чёрно-бе́лый (čórno-bélyj)using shades of grey/gray
  • чёрно-бе́лый (čórno-bélyj)displaying images in shades of grey/gray
Slovak čiernobiely, čiernobiely
  • čiernobielyusing shades of grey/gray
  • čiernobielydisplaying images in shades of grey/gray
Spanish blanco y negro, blanquinegro
  • blanco y negrousing shades of grey/gray
  • blanquinegrodisplaying images in shades of grey/gray
Swedish svartvit, svartvit
  • svartvitusing shades of grey/gray
  • svartvitdisplaying images in shades of grey/gray
Tamil கறுப்பு வெள்ளை, கருப்பு வெள்ளை
  • கறுப்பு வெள்ளை (kaṟuppu veḷḷai)using shades of grey/gray
  • கருப்பு வெள்ளை (karuppu veḷḷai)using shades of grey/gray
  • கறுப்பு வெள்ளை (kaṟuppu veḷḷai)displaying images in shades of grey/gray
  • கருப்பு வெள்ளை (karuppu veḷḷai)displaying images in shades of grey/gray
Turkish siyah beyaz
  • siyah beyazusing shades of grey/gray
Ukrainian чо́рно-бі́лий, чо́рно-бі́лий
  • чо́рно-бі́лий (čórno-bílyj)using shades of grey/gray
  • чо́рно-бі́лий (čórno-bílyj)displaying images in shades of grey/gray
Vietnamese mực đen, một màu
  • mực đenusing shades of grey/gray
  • một màuusing shades of grey/gray
  • trắng đendisplaying images in shades of grey/gray
  • đen trắngdisplaying images in shades of grey/gray
Cite this entry
APA

black-and-white. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black-and-white

MLA

“black-and-white.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black-and-white. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “black-and-white,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black-and-white.

Source: black-and-white on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.