Black vs. Tanned — What's the Difference?
Edited by Tayyaba Rehman — By Fiza Rafique — Published on October 3, 2023
Black is a color characterized by the absence of light, while tanned refers to having darkened skin due to sun exposure or artificial means.
Difference Between Black and Tanned
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Black is a color that results from the complete absorption of visible light. It is often described as the darkest color, and it represents the absence of light. Tanned, on the other hand, refers to the darkening of the skin, typically as a result of exposure to the sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays or artificial tanning methods.
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Black can also describe objects, clothing, or materials that are of this color, and it has various symbolic and cultural associations. Tanning is often sought after for a bronzed or sun-kissed appearance, but excessive sun exposure can lead to sunburn and skin damage.
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Comparison Chart
Skin Pigmentation
Refers to dark brown or black skin
Refers to a temporary change in skin color
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Natural Occurrence
Color of certain populations' skin
Result of sun exposure or tanning beds
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Symbolism
Various cultural and symbolic meanings
Often associated with a healthy look
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Health Consideration
Skin color is natural
Tanning may involve UV exposure risks
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Definitions
Black
Black is the darkest color, representing the absence of light.
The night sky was pitch black.
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Tanned
Tanned skin is often associated with a vacation glow.
His tanned face showed he'd spent time outdoors.
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Black
Black can describe objects or materials of this color.
She wore a stunning black dress.
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Tanned
Tanned describes darkened skin from sun exposure.
After a week at the beach, she was nicely tanned.
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Black
Being of the color black, producing or reflecting comparatively little light and having no predominant hue.
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Tanned
Tanned skin results from increased melanin production.
He had a healthy, golden tanned complexion.
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Tanned
To convert (an animal hide) into leather by subjecting it to a chemical process that stabilizes the proteins, making it less susceptible to decay.
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Black
Of or belonging to a racial group having brown to black skin, especially one of African origin
The black population of South Africa.
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Black
Of or belonging to an American ethnic group descended from African peoples having dark skin; African American.
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Tanned
To make (a person or a person's skin) darker by exposure to artificial sunlight or by the application of certain chemicals, often in the form of sprays or lotions.
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Black
Being a trail, as for skiing, marked with a sign having a black diamond, indicating a high level of difficulty.
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Tanned
To become darker from exposure to the sun or artificial sunlight, or from the application of certain chemicals.
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Black
Being or characterized by morbid or grimly satiric humor
A black comedy.
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Black
Attended with disaster; calamitous
A black day.
The stock market crash on Black Friday.
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Black
Deserving of, indicating, or incurring censure or dishonor
“Man ... has written one of his blackest records as a destroyer on the oceanic islands” (Rachel Carson).
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Black
Appearing to emanate from a source other than the actual point of origin. Used chiefly of intelligence operations
Black propaganda.
Black radio transmissions.
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Tanned
Having a suntan.
You're looking very tanned.
Tanned bodies lying on the beach
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Black
Disclosed, for reasons of security, only to an extremely limited number of authorized persons; very highly classified
Black programs in the Defense Department.
The Pentagon's black budget.
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Tanned
(of leather) Finished, made using tannic acid (as opposed to abrasion).
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Black
The achromatic color value of minimum lightness or maximum darkness; the color of objects that absorb nearly all light of all visible wavelengths; one extreme of the neutral gray series, the opposite being white. Although strictly a response to zero stimulation of the retina, the perception of black appears to depend on contrast with surrounding color stimuli.
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Tanned
(of skin) having a tan color from exposure to the sun;
A young bronzed Apollo
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Tanned
Tanned can also refer to using tanning beds or products.
She achieved a tanned look with self-tanning lotion.
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Black
Clothing of the darkest hue, especially such clothing worn for mourning.
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Tanned
Tanned skin may suggest a healthy, active lifestyle.
Her tanned legs showed she enjoyed outdoor activities.
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Black
A member of a racial group having brown to black skin, especially one of African origin.
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Black
An American descended from peoples of African origin having brown to black skin; an African American.
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Black
The condition of making or operating at a profit
Worked hard to get the business back into the black.
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Black
(of an object) Absorbing all light and reflecting none; dark and hueless.
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Black
(sometimes capitalized) Belonging to or descended from any of various (African, Aboriginal, etc) ethnic groups which typically have dark pigmentation of the skin. See usage notes below.
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Black
(US) Belonging to or descended from any of various sub-Saharan African ethnic groups which typically have dark pigmentation of the skin.
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Black
Designated for use by those ethnic groups (as described above).
Black drinking fountain; black hospital
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Black
Of the spades or clubs suits. Compare of the hearts or diamonds suit
I was dealt two red queens, and he got one of the black queens.
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Black
Expressing menace, or discontent; threatening; sullen.
He shot her a black look.
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Black
(of coffee or tea) Without any cream, milk, or creamer.
Jim drinks his coffee black, but Ellen prefers it with creamer.
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Black
Of or relating to the playing pieces of a board game deemed to belong to the "black" set (in chess the set used by the player who moves second) often regardless of the pieces' actual colour.
The black pieces in this chess set are made of dark blue glass.
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Black
(typography) Said of a symbol or character that is solid, filled with color. Compare said of a character or symbol outline, not filled with color.
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Black
(politics) Related to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany.
After the election, the parties united in a black-yellow alliance.
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Black
Clandestine; relating to a political, military, or espionage operation or site, the existence or details of which is withheld from the general public.
5 percent of the Defense Department funding will go to black projects.
Black operations/black ops, black room, black site
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Black
Occult; relating to something (such as mystical or magical knowledge) which is unknown to or kept secret from the general public.
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Black
Protestant, often with the implication of being militantly pro-British or anti-Catholic. 1=Compare blackmouth ("Presbyterian").
The Royal Black Institution
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Black
Having one or more features (hair, fur, armour, clothes, bark, etc) that is dark (or black); in taxonomy, especially: dark in comparison to another species with the same base name.
Black birch, black locust, black rhino
The black knight, black bile
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Black
The colour/color perceived in the absence of light, but also when no light is reflected, but rather absorbed.
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Black
A member of descendant of any of various (African, Aboriginal, etc) ethnic groups which typically have dark pigmentation of the skin. See usage notes.
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Black
(informal) Blackness, the condition of belonging to or being descended from one of these ethnic groups.
Black don't crack
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Black
, especially as syrup or crème de cassis used for cocktails.
Pernod and black... snakebite and black... cider and black...
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Black
The person playing with the black set of pieces.
At this point black makes a disastrous move.
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Black
Destitute of light, or incapable of reflecting it; of the color of soot or coal; of the darkest or a very dark color, the opposite of white; characterized by such a color; as, black cloth; black hair or eyes.
O night, with hue so black!
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Black
In a less literal sense: Enveloped or shrouded in darkness; very dark or gloomy; as, a black night; the heavens black with clouds.
I spy a black, suspicious, threatening cloud.
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Black
Fig.: Dismal, gloomy, or forbidding, like darkness; destitute of moral light or goodness; atrociously wicked; cruel; mournful; calamitous; horrible.
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Black
Expressing menace, or discontent; threatening; sullen; foreboding; as, to regard one with black looks.
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Black
That which is destitute of light or whiteness; the darkest color, or rather a destitution of all color; as, a cloth has a good black.
Black is the badge of hell,The hue of dungeons, and the suit of night.
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Black
A negro; a person whose skin is of a black color, or shaded with black; esp. a member or descendant of certain African races.
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Black
A black garment or dress; as, she wears black
Friends weeping, and blacks, and obsequies, and the like show death terrible.
That was the full time they used to wear blacks for the death of their fathers.
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Black
The part of a thing which is distinguished from the rest by being black.
The black or sight of the eye.
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Black
A stain; a spot; a smooch.
Defiling her white lawn of chastity with ugly blacks of lust.
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Black
To make black; to blacken; to soil; to sully.
They have their teeth blacked, both men and women, for they say a dog hath his teeth white, therefore they will black theirs.
Sins which black thy soul.
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Black
To make black and shining, as boots or a stove, by applying blacking and then polishing with a brush.
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Black
The quality or state of the achromatic color of least lightness (bearing the least resemblance to white)
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Black
Total absence of light;
They fumbled around in total darkness
In the black of night
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Black
British chemist who identified carbon dioxide and who formulated the concepts of specific heat and latent heat (1728-1799)
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Black
A person with dark skin who comes from Africa (or whose ancestors came from Africa)
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Black
Make or become black;
The smoke blackened the ceiling
The ceiling blackened
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Black
Being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light;
Black leather jackets
As black as coal
Rich black soil
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Black
Of or belonging to a racial group having dark skin especially of sub-Saharan African origin;
A great people--a black people--...injected new meaning and dignity into the veins of civilization
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Black
Stemming from evil characteristics or forces; wicked or dishonorable;
Black deeds
A black lie
His black heart has concocted yet another black deed
Darth Vader of the dark side
A dark purpose
Dark undercurrents of ethnic hostility
The scheme of some sinister intelligence bent on punishing him
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Black
Offering little or no hope;
The future looked black
Prospects were bleak
Life in the Aran Islands has always been bleak and difficult
Took a dim view of things
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Black
(of events) having extremely unfortunate or dire consequences; bringing ruin;
The stock market crashed on Black Friday
A calamitous defeat
The battle was a disastrous end to a disastrous campaign
Such doctrines, if true, would be absolutely fatal to my theory
It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it
A fateful error
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Black
(of the face) made black especially as with suffused blood;
A face black with fury
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Black
Extremely dark;
A black moonless night
Through the pitch-black woods
It was pitch-dark in the celler
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Black
Harshly ironic or sinister;
Black humor
A grim joke
Grim laughter
Fun ranging from slapstick clowning ... to savage mordant wit
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Black
(used of conduct or character) deserving or bringing disgrace or shame;
Man...has written one of his blackest records as a destroyer on the oceanic islands
An ignominious retreat
Inglorious defeat
An opprobrious monument to human greed
A shameful display of cowardice
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Black
Soiled with dirt or soot;
With feet black from playing outdoors
His shirt was black within an hour
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Black
Black refers to people with dark brown or black skin pigmentation.
He has beautiful black skin.
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Black
Black has cultural significance in various societies.
Black is a symbol of mourning in many cultures.
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Black
Black is often associated with elegance and sophistication.
The black tie event required formal attire.
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FAQs
What does "black" mean as a color?
Black is the darkest color, resulting from the complete absorption of visible light.
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Oct 03, 2023
What does "black" symbolize in many cultures?
"Black" can symbolize mourning, sophistication, and formality in many cultures.
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Can "black" describe skin color?
Yes, black can refer to people with dark brown or black skin pigmentation.
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Is "black" used to describe objects or clothing?
Yes, "black" can describe objects or materials that are of this color.
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Are there risks associated with tanning?
Yes, excessive UV exposure from the sun or tanning beds can lead to sunburn and skin damage.
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Oct 03, 2023
What does "tanned" mean in the context of skin?
"Tanned" refers to darkened skin resulting from sun exposure or artificial tanning methods.
Fiza Rafique
Oct 03, 2023
How does skin become "tanned"?
Skin becomes tanned when it produces more melanin as a natural response to UV exposure.
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Oct 03, 2023
Is a "tanned" appearance considered healthy?
Many people associate a tanned look with a healthy, active lifestyle.
Fiza Rafique
Oct 03, 2023
Are there cultural associations with the color "black"?
Yes, black has various cultural and symbolic meanings, often linked to concepts like mourning or elegance.
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Oct 03, 2023
Can you achieve a tan with self-tanning products?
Yes, self-tanning lotions and sprays can provide a temporary tanned appearance without sun exposure.
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Oct 03, 2023
Author Spotlight
Written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content editor at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
Edited by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
