深(shēn) - deep; dark (colour) in Mandarin

深 (shēn) is the mirror of 浅 (qiǎn): it means physically deep, as in 水很深 (shuǐ hěn shēn), "the water is deep", and it means dark in colour, as in 深蓝色 (shēn lánsè), "dark blue". The same character pair also carries into figurative depth - 深 (shēn) meaning "profound, deep" as in 一个很深的问题 (yí gè hěn shēn de wèntí), "a deep/profound question".

Because 深 (shēn) is unchanged between simplified and traditional Chinese, it is one of the easier characters to recognise across both scripts.

Colour and depth both use the same pattern with 色 (sè), "colour": 深色 (shēnsè) for dark shades in general, 深棕色 (shēn zōngsè) for one specific shade like dark brown. English speakers often want a separate word for "dark" as in colour versus "deep" as in water, but Mandarin is content to reuse 深 (shēn) for both.