1.
pitch black; jet black
Completely black without any other color; extremely dark.
真っ黒な髪だ。
It's jet-black hair.
空が真っ黒な雲に覆われた。
The sky was covered with pitch-black clouds.
焦がしてしまって、鍋の底が真っ黒になった。
I burned it, and the bottom of the pot turned pitch black.
2.
very tanned; sunburned
Having darkened significantly from sun exposure.
日焼けで真っ黒だ。
I'm really tanned from the sun.
夏休みで真っ黒に日焼けした。
I got really tanned over summer vacation.
海で遊びすぎて、子供たちは真っ黒に焼けて帰ってきた。
The children played too much at the beach and came home deeply tanned.
3.
totally guilty; clearly corrupt
Colloquial: obviously guilty or corrupt (opposite of 'innocent').
あいつは真っ黒だ。
That guy is totally guilty.
あの政治家は真っ黒だと言われている。
That politician is said to be totally corrupt.
証拠が次々と出てきて、容疑者は真っ黒だとわかった。
As evidence kept coming out one after another, it became clear the suspect was totally guilty.
WORD STRUCTURE:
真っ (emphatic prefix) + 黒 (black)
COMMON EXPRESSIONS:
- 真っ黒に焦げる - to burn black
- 真っ黒な夜空 - pitch-black night sky
- 真っ黒の髪 - jet-black hair
COLLOQUIAL USAGE:
In colloquial Japanese, 真っ黒 (innocent: 白) is used to describe someone clearly guilty or corrupt, like the English "guilty as sin."
RELATED:
- 真っ白 - pure white
- 真っ暗 - pitch dark