livid

[ liv-id ]
See synonyms for: lividlividness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. having a discolored, bluish appearance caused by a bruise, congestion of blood vessels, strangulation, etc., as the face, flesh, hands, or nails.

  2. dull blue; dark, grayish-blue.

  1. enraged; furiously angry: Willful stupidity makes me absolutely livid.

  2. feeling or appearing strangulated because of strong emotion.

  3. reddish or flushed.

  4. deathly pale; pallid; ashen: Fear turned his cheeks livid for a moment.

Origin of livid

1
First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin līvidus “black and blue,” equivalent to līv(ēre) “to be livid” (akin to Welsh lliw “color”) + -idus adjective suffix; see -id4

word story For livid

Livid “bluish, dull blue, grayish-blue” ultimately comes from Latin līvidus “dull blue, grayish-blue, discolored by bruising” (equivalent to English black and blue ), also meaning “spiteful, malicious” (in Latin one is blue with jealousy, not green).
In the early 18th century, English livid somehow developed the further senses “pale, deathly pale,” as from cold or in death, with no connotation of blueness. Then in the first half of the 19th century, livid came to mean “pale with rage or fury,” which is confusing because an angry person’s face can just as well be described as “purple with rage” or “red with fury.” Livid finally acquired the simple meaning “enraged, furiously angry” in the late 19th century.
Līvidus comes from the same Proto-Indo-European root slī- (suffixed form slī-wo- ) “bluish” as appears in Old English slāh (English sloe, as in sloe gin fizz, a drink that has never gone away). Slī-wo- appears in Slavic (Serbo-Croatian) šljiva “plum” (from its color), from which the pale fruit brandy šljivovica “slivovitz” is distilled.

Other words from livid

  • liv·id·ly, adverb
  • liv·id·ness, li·vid·i·ty [li-vid-i-tee], /lɪˈvɪd ɪ ti/, noun

Words Nearby livid

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use livid in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for livid

livid

/ (ˈlɪvɪd) /


adjective
  1. (of the skin) discoloured, as from a bruise or contusion

  2. of a greyish tinge or colour: livid pink

  1. informal angry or furious

Origin of livid

1
C17: via French from Latin līvidus, from līvēre to be black and blue

Derived forms of livid

  • lividly, adverb
  • lividness or lividity, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012