yellow
Americannoun
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yellows
plural
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a color like that of egg yolk, ripe lemons, etc.; the primary color between green and orange in the visible spectrum, an effect of light with a wavelength between 570 and 590 nanometers.
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the yolk of an egg.
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a yellow pigment or dye.
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Informal. yellow light.
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Slang. yellow jacket.
adjective
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of the color yellow.
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Disparaging and Offensive.
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designating or pertaining to an Asian person or Asian peoples.
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designating or pertaining to a person of mixed racial origin, especially of black and white heritage.
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having a sallow or yellowish complexion.
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Informal. cowardly.
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(of a newspaper, book, etc.) featuring articles, pictures, or other content that is sensational, especially morbidly or offensively so.
yellow rags;
yellow biographies.
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dishonest in editorial comment and the presentation of news, especially in sacrificing truth for sensationalism, as in
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jealous; envious.
verb (used with or without object)
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yellows,
present (3rd person singular)
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yellowed,
past participle, past
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yellowing
present participle
noun
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any of a group of colours that vary in saturation but have the same hue. They lie in the approximate wavelength range 585–575 nanometres. Yellow is the complementary colour of blue and with cyan and magenta forms a set of primary colours
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a pigment or dye of or producing these colours
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yellow cloth or clothing
dressed in yellow
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the yolk of an egg
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a yellow ball in snooker, etc
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any of a group of pieridine butterflies the males of which have yellow or yellowish wings, esp the clouded yellows ( Colias spp.) and the brimstone
adjective
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of the colour yellow
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yellowish in colour or having parts or marks that are yellowish
yellow jasmine
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having a yellowish skin; Mongoloid
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informal cowardly or afraid
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offensively sensational, as a cheap newspaper (esp in the phrase yellow press )
verb
Sensitivity
It is perceived as insulting to use yellow to describe a person of Asian or mixed racial origin, as in the terms yellow peril and high yellow.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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yellowsimple
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yellowssimple
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have yellowedperfect
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has yellowedperfect
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am yellowingprogressive
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are yellowingprogressive
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is yellowingprogressive
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have been yellowingperfect progressive
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has been yellowingperfect progressive
Past
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yellowedsimple
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had yellowedperfect
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was yellowingprogressive
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were yellowingprogressive
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had been yellowingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of yellow
First recorded before 900; 1895–1900 yellow for def. 9; Middle English yelou (adjective and noun), Old English geolo, geolu (adjective); cognate with Dutch geel, German gelb, Old Norse gulr; akin to Latin helvus “pale yellow,” Persian zar “gold” ( see jargon 2 ( def. )), Sanskrit hári “brown, green, yellow”
Explanation
Yellow is the color you'll see in a rainbow, right between orange and green. Yellow is the color of daffodils, lemons, and the traffic light that is supposed to make cars slow down. The word yellow comes from a Proto-Indo-European root word that means "to shine." Sunflowers, egg yolks, and corn on the cob all share this bright color, and if you're asked to draw a picture of the sun, you're likely to grab a yellow crayon. The informal meaning of yellow, "cowardly," has been around since the 1850s, and may have originated in a Texas slur for Mexican soldiers, whose uniforms were yellow.
Vocabulary lists containing yellow
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.
See Examples For:
Two weeks earlier, the Patriot team rode in a yellow school bus without air conditioning on a 100-degree day to an away game at Ramona.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2026
At a recycling plant in Coventry, I watched staff sorting rubbish on a fast-moving conveyor belt when a crushed yellow sharps container suddenly appeared among the waste.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
The glow is most pronounced on the yellow underside of their bodies and along their sides.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 28, 2026
This shuttle stack sits in flight configuration, almost exactly as it would look on the cusp of liftoff, besides the yellow torque tubes lining the orbiter’s white shell like external ribs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
Legendary was in yellow, against a black background.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
But seasoned leaf-peepers know that Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park and Shenandoah Valley are equally majestic places for autumn color, thanks to sugar maples, magnolias and more vegetation that erupts in fiery reds, oranges and yellows.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
The outside world recedes, and the colors of the house’s interior slowly deepen from cheerful yellows and blues to muted greens.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
An FIA spokesperson said that a single yellow was shown initially, before it was upgraded to a double yellows, by which time Antonelli and Russell had gone through.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
The yellows are like the palo verde trees that bloom brightly in the streets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2026
Not of the crowded corrals, but of the pretty West Side neighborhoods where wealthier Mexican families lived, their houses painted in yellows and oranges and pinks.
From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
Removing the bluer light from the sun should make it look a bit yellower.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 1, 2023
Light bulbs with warmer or yellower tones are more suited to our circadian rhythm than bluer light — that’s why the “night” mode on your smartphone uses them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2022
It had red writing spelling out the brand name Velveeta, the cheese substance that, depending on your color sense, is either bold gold or yellower than school bus yellow.
From New York Times ● Feb. 9, 2022
In its crystalline form, sodium nitrite looks like a yellower cousin of table salt.
From Salon ● May 23, 2021
The leaves get smaller and yellower, folding back toward the bud, and the air crisps.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
Mallory Ortberg: “Jeeves, bring me my whangee, my yellowest shoes, and the old green Homburg. I’m going into the Park to do pastoral dances.”
From Slate ● Feb. 22, 2017
Fishkill Farms has the best eggs with the yellowest yolks.
From New York Times ● Nov. 17, 2016
A Hogarthian cast of characters, from Britain's lordliest media barons to subalterns on the yellowest of yellow rags.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 29, 2012
Not even the yellowest journals suggested that Banker Morgan was selling his pictures because he needed the money.
From Time Magazine Archive
We've always said that we wanted more out of life than they—that we wouldn't be content with half a loaf—that we wanted the bravest adventures, the yellowest gold, the finest emotions, the greater power!
From O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1920 by Various
The earliest pages in Lee Him’s file, yellowed with age and ragged at the edges, date to 1908.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026
They simply weren’t my taste anymore, and I didn’t like how the resin had yellowed over time.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 16, 2026
Fruit stored at 30°C yellowed rapidly, while mangoes kept at 12°C maintained their color longer because chlorophyll breakdown slowed significantly.
From Science Daily ● May 23, 2026
After expending so much blood, sweat and tears to reach the majors, their reward was a single yellowed newspaper box score with their name in it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2025
“My favorite researchers,” he said, his teeth strong and slightly yellowed, bared in a wide grin.
From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi
Van der poel, Evenepoel, Wout van Aert, Paul Seixas and Pidcock were all there, all animating and pushing to breakaway from one another under gradually yellowing Canadian maples.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
By the time a patient experiences signs, such as jaundice – a yellowing of the skin – or abdominal pain, the cancer has often already spread to other organs.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 4, 2026
One ledger of yellowing pages vividly evokes the cases of patients from 1919, the year after the end of World War I.
From Barron's ● Feb. 4, 2026
It’s the moment of yellowing when lead starts becoming gold but isn’t gold yet.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 28, 2026
As she walked about the yellowing hillsides or worked at easy tasks, her lips were curled in a perpetual fatuous smile.
From "The Red Pony" by John Steinbeck
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