off-color
AmericanEtymology
Origin of off-color
First recorded in 1855–60
Explanation
Something that's off-color is offensive or vulgar. Your parents might stop inviting your uncle for Thanksgiving after years of his embarrassing, off-color jokes. You'll most often find the adjective off-color describing jokes that make some listeners laugh, but offend or disgust others. Standup comedians are frequently famous for their off-color humor, while politicians caught telling off-color stories can face serious career difficulties. Before American English adopted off-color to mean "in questionable taste," this adjective was used to describe faulty gemstones.
Vocabulary lists containing off-color
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But it isn’t returning to its past image, which some people considered inappropriate and off-color by focusing too much on idealized images of beauty.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026
But let’s be clear: Plenty of people wrote mean, off-color things that they wouldn’t say out loud.
From Slate • Sep. 11, 2025
In fact, the only stumble Glaser took would be her off-color handful of jokes about the allegations surrounding Diddy.
From Salon • Jan. 6, 2025
Yashou was no fan of Assad: He had been picked up by one of the country’s notoriously strict intelligence services for an off-color remark about the president in a phone call with a friend.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 9, 2024
In the train going to Royaumont, however, he looked off-color, giving no indication of wanting either to read The Times or to hear me gossip about the phage group.
From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
