black as coal
Dark as night
Black as coal describes the deepest, most complete darkness—the color of coal before it burns.
The comparison emphasizes absolute blackness: Her hair was black as coal, The night sky was black as coal.
Like similar expressions (black as pitch, black as night), it's a stock simile for describing anything intensely dark.
- dark as pitchCompletely without illumination
- inkyDeeply black, like darkness
- ebonyDense dark tropical wood
- ravenLarge black carrion bird
- nightDark hours daily
dead of night · darkness · onyx · obsidian · colliery · anthracite · sable · pitch · jet · deep · pit · smudge · furnace · chimney · grime · burnt · moonless · void
- color simileswhite as snow, green as grass
black as coalwhite as snow
Extremely pale comparison
bright as day · pale as a ghost · white as a sheet · bright white · snow-white
black as coalpale as a ghost
Extremely pallid from shock
white as a sheet · ashen · pallid · fair-skinned · porcelain
black, coal, charcoal, blacken, coals, blackness, blacks, blackest, blacker