How to Write 黝 (yǒu) — Meaning “Dark / Black”

Imagine a young (幼) person who played in the sun all day and became completely black (黑) from sunburn — that person is now 黝黑. The picture of a child turned dark by the sun helps link the two parts. Another trick: think of a "young black" object like a shiny black puppy.

Pay special attention to the left radical 黑: it has a four-dot fire base (灬) under the two halves, not just a line. On the right, 幼 must be written with the top part 幺 (two half-circles) followed by 力 (power), and keep the whole character balanced — the left side is wider, the right narrower. A common mistake is mixing up the order of dots in the fire base.

黝 (yǒu) focuses on dark skin or shiny black color, as in 黝黑 (suntanned). 黔 (qián) means black or darkening, but is most often used for the Guizhou province (黔) or the idiom "黔驴技穷" (the donkey's skills are exhausted). 默 (mò) means silent or quiet, combining 黑 with 犬 (dog) — it has no color meaning. Visually, 黝 has 幼, 黔 has 今, and 默 has 犬 on the right.

黝 appears most often in 黝黑, describing a person's deeply suntanned or naturally dark skin, like a farmer who works outside. It is also used in 黝暗 for dim lighting and 黝亮 for a glossy black color, such as shiny black hair or a polished stone. In everyday speech, 黝黑 is a neutral descriptive term, not an insult, and is common in literature and travel writing about outdoor life.

Common words containing 黝 include: 黝黑 (yǒu hēi) — Suntanned / Dark-skinned; 黝暗 (yǒu àn) — Dark / Dim; 黝亮 (yǒu liàng) — Shiny black.