深い
fukai
A river, a sleep and a friendship can all be 'deep'
The picture You reach down from the surface and keep going, and the bottom is still further down. 深い is a bottom far from the surface; 浅い is a bottom sitting just under it.
Where the picture shows up in 深い
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deep water
この川は深いので気をつけてください。
kono kawa wa fukai node ki o tsuke-te kudasai
This river is deep, so please be careful.
Water up to a wader's shoulders while her toes grope for the bottom
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a deep wound
傷が深いですね。
kizu ga fukai desu ne
That's a deep cut.
An open cut whose line runs down past the skin into the flesh
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deep sleep
昨日は深く眠れました。
kinō wa fukaku nemure-mashita
I slept deeply last night.
The alarm goes off and the body doesn't stir, sunk under the quilt
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a deep bond
二人は付き合いが深いです。
futari wa tsukiai ga fukai desu
Those two go way back.
Two pairs of hands refilling each other's cups without a word
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deep meaning
この言葉には深い意味があります。
kono kotoba ni wa fukai imi ga ari-masu
These words carry a deep meaning.
One short line read, the paper set down, and a long stare at the ceiling
深い also works for colors, flavors and fog — anything thick and dense.
All of it in one picture
深い is one measurement: surface to bottom. Far in a river and your feet don't touch; far in a wound and it has gone into the flesh; far in sleep and shaking won't wake you. Far between two people is a bond built over years, and far in a sentence is a line you have to sit with before you see its floor.