colorist

American  

[kuhl-er-ist] / ˈkʌl ər ɪst /

noun

• colorists
  plural

1. a person who uses color skillfully.

2. a painter who emphasizes color relationships in a work of art.

3. a person who colors photographs.

4. a hairdresser who is skilled in coloring or tinting hair.

5. a musical performer or composer who is skilled in bringing musical color.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• coloristic
  adjective
• coloristically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• colorists
  plural

Etymology

Origin of colorist

1680–90; color + -ist; compare French coloriste

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

colorist colorists

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Bessette’s former hair colorist, Brad Johns, reflected on the wig’s hair color as “burnt” and ashy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026

Working with colorist Tracey Cunningham and stylist Bridget Brager in Los Angeles, Deutch recreated the look.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2025

The great thing about Rachmaninoff is that he is a colorist in the way he writes for the piano.

From New York Times ● Jan. 31, 2024

Most of “Pour, Tear, Carve” carries the Phillips far from the impressionist and colorist works for which it’s best known.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 10, 2023

Schubert, 21; Variations, 88; account of style and works, 162-169; character of songs, 165; symphonic style, 166; chamber music, 166; pianoforte style, 167; as great colorist, 167-168; analysis of Unfinished Symphony, 167-169. seven-bar rhythm, 66.

From Music: An Art and a Language by Spalding, Walter Raymond

As he hoped, naturalists found the guide indispensable, as did designers, stamp collectors, and food colorists.

From National Geographic ● Dec. 7, 2023

It hired five barbers and colorists, compared with the lone barber and colorist from 2017.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 14, 2023

The result is "Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds," a 96-page book produced by the best writers, artists, colorists, letterers, designers and editors that Dunbier could find.

From Reuters ● Apr. 21, 2022

He eventually became a guard at the Phillips Collection, whose holdings shaped the styles of many D.C. colorists, and worked his way up to serving as the museum’s curator from 1982 to 1987.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 4, 2022

On the other side are the "colorists," who think color everything, and form nothing: they are but a section, though an increasing one, of the fly-fishing community.

From Lippincott's Magazine, Volume 11, No. 26, May, 1873 by Various