beige
Americannoun
adjective
noun
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a very light brown, sometimes with a yellowish tinge, similar to the colour of undyed wool
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( as adjective )
beige gloves
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a fabric made of undyed or unbleached wool
Etymology
Origin of beige
1855–60; < French; Old French bege, of uncertain origin
Explanation
Beige is a tan color with a reputation for being neutral, if not boring. Khaki pants and coffee with lots of cream might be beige. Beige does not sound the way it looks. The "ei" is pronounced like a long "a" (as in "cake") and the "g" is a soft "zh" sound. This is because beige comes straight out of French, where it originally meant a fabric of the color we now know as beige. See? Beige has some interesting qualities for such a boring color.
Vocabulary lists containing beige
Brown
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Lucky Broken Girl
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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.
Some businesses may be getting painted into a corner though, according to the Fed’s Beige Book released this week.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 6, 2026
The economy is showing moderate growth in seven of the 12 Federal Reserve Districts in the period measured in the central bank’s latest Beige Book survey.
From Barron's • Mar. 5, 2026
The Institute for Supply Management services PMI is at 10 a.m., and the Fed’s Beige Book of economic conditions at 2 p.m.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 4, 2026
Here are some of the major takeaways from the February Beige Book.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026
On Friday nights, my family would go to the Centre Culturel Beige.
From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer
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.
