Meanings
comparative more pitch-black · superlative most pitch-black · alternative pitchblack · alternative pitch black
- Very dark; without light.
Synonyms: black as coal, black as tar, black as night, tar-black
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveVery dark; without light.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveextremely dark
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From pitch (“tar”) + black. Compare West Frisian pikswart (literally “pitch-black”), Dutch pikzwart (literally “pitch-black”), German pechschwarz (literally “pitch-black”), Swedish becksvart (literally “pitch-black”), Icelandic biksvartur (literally “pitch-black”).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian черен като катран
- черен като катран (čeren kato katran)of the blackest black
Catalan negre d'atzabeja
- negre d'atzabejaof the blackest black
Chinese Mandarin 黑沉沉, 漆黑
- 黑沉沉 (hēichēnchēn)of the blackest black
- 漆黑 (qīhēi)of the blackest black
- 墨黑 (mòhēi)of the blackest black
- 烏黑 /乌黑 (wūhēi)of the blackest black
- 黑漆漆 (hēiqīqī)of the blackest black
Czech černočerný
- černočernýof the blackest black
Danish kulsort, begsort
- kulsortof the blackest black
- begsortof the blackest black
Dutch pikzwart
- pikzwartof the blackest black
Esperanto karbonigra, peĉnigra
- karbonigraof the blackest black
- peĉnigraof the blackest black
Estonian süsimust
- süsimustof the blackest black
Finnish pikimusta, sysimusta
- pikimustaof the blackest black
- sysimustaof the blackest black
French noir complet, noir total
- noir completof the blackest black
- noir totalof the blackest black
- noir comme poixof the blackest black
- nuit noireof the blackest black
German pechschwarz, stockdunkel
- pechschwarzof the blackest black
- stockdunkelof the blackest black
- stockfinsterof the blackest black
- jettschwarzof the blackest black
Greek κατάμαυρος
- κατάμαυρος (katámavros)of the blackest black
Hungarian koromfekete, szurokfekete
- koromfeketeof the blackest black
- szurokfeketeof the blackest black
Icelandic kolamyrkur, svartamyrkur
- kolamyrkurof the blackest black
- svartamyrkurof the blackest black
Irish ciardhubh
- ciardhubhof the blackest black
Italian cupo, nero come la pece
- cupoof the blackest black
- nero come la peceof the blackest black
- buio pestoof the blackest black
Japanese 漆黒の
- 漆黒の (shikkoku no)of the blackest black
Latin piceus
- piceusof the blackest black
Māori hinapouri, pouri ngihangiha
- hinapouriof the blackest black
- pouri ngihangihaof the blackest black
- tuauriuriof the blackest black
- niwaniwaof the blackest black
Norwegian Bokmål kullsvart, beksvart
- kullsvartof the blackest black
- beksvartof the blackest black
- bekmørkof the blackest black
Polish gagatowy, smołowy
- gagatowyof the blackest black
- smołowyof the blackest black
Portuguese preto como carvão
- preto como carvãoof the blackest black
Romanian negru complet, negru ca tăciunele
- negru completof the blackest black
- negru ca tăciuneleof the blackest black
Russian смоляно́й, у́гольно-чёрный
- смоляно́й (smoljanój)of the blackest black
- у́гольно-чёрный (úgolʹno-čórnyj)of the blackest black
- чёрный как смоль (čórnyj kak smolʹ)of the blackest black
Scottish Gaelic dubh dorch
- dubh dorchof the blackest black
Spanish negro como la pez, muy oscuro
- negro como la pezof the blackest black
- muy oscuroof the blackest black
- oscurísimoof the blackest black
- más negro que los cojones de un burroof the blackest black
- más negro que un tizónof the blackest black
Swahili eusi ti ti ti
- eusi ti ti tiof the blackest black
Swedish kolsvart, becksvart
- kolsvartof the blackest black
- becksvartof the blackest black
- beckmörkof the blackest black
- kolmörkof the blackest black
- ramsvartof the blackest black
- gagatsvartof the blackest black
Turkish kapkara, simsiyah
- kapkaraof the blackest black
- simsiyahof the blackest black
- kuzguniof the blackest black
- zifiri karanlıkof the blackest black
Vietnamese tối om, tối thui
- tối omof the blackest black
- tối thuiof the blackest black
- tối đenof the blackest black
Welsh pygddu, purddu
- pygdduof the blackest black
- purdduof the blackest black
Cite this entry
pitch-black. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pitch-black
“pitch-black.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pitch-black. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pitch-black,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pitch-black.
Source: pitch-black on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.