黒い（くろい、kuroi）
- black

The Japanese word 黒い (くろい) means "black" or "dark" in English. It describes the color black, or something that is of a black hue. It can also be used figuratively to describe darkness, mystery, or something negative.

⚫︎ 黒い猫 Translation: Black cat ⚫︎ 黒い車 Translation: Black car ⚫︎ 彼の目は黒い Translation: His eyes are black

黒い is an い-adjective. Therefore, it changes form (conjugates) depending on the context of the sentence. ⚫︎ It can directly modify a noun, such as in 黒い猫 (black cat). ⚫︎ It can be used as a predicate (the part of a sentence that says something about the subject), such as in そのペンは黒いです (That pen is black). In this case, it's used with the polite form of the copula "to be," です. ⚫︎ The polite negative form of this adjective is 黒くありません (is not black). ⚫︎ The past tense of this adjective is 黒かった (was black).

黒い is typically written with the kanji 黒 and the hiragana い. The pronunciation is くろい. ⚫︎ Kanji: 黒 ⚫︎ Hiragana: い

There aren't many direct synonyms for "black" in Japanese, but words with similar meanings in certain contexts include: ⚫︎ 漆黒の (しっこくの) - pitch black; jet black (more literary and intense) ⚫︎ 暗い (くらい) - dark (can be used in a similar figurative sense of sadness) ⚫︎ 真っ黒な (まっくろな) - very black; pitch black

The direct antonym of 黒い (black) is 白い (しろい) - white. Other related antonyms can depend on the context: ⚫︎ 明るい (あかるい) - bright, light (opposite of dark)

その服はとても黒い ・Translation: That clothes is very black. ・Explanation: This sentence describes that the color of the clothes is black. Here, 黒い directly describes the color.

彼は黒い影を見た ・Translation: He saw a black shadow. ・Explanation: In this case, 黒い describes a "shadow," indicating that the shadow's appearance is dark or black.

The etymology of 黒い is rooted in the Old Japanese word for "black". The kanji 黒 is a pictograph representing a sooty, blackened object, such as charred wood. The suffix い is a typical adjective ending in Japanese.