the quality of an object or substance with respect to light reflected by the object, usually determined visually by measurement of hue, saturation, and brightness of the reflected light; saturation or chroma; hue.
the natural appearance of the skin, especially of the face; complexion.
She has a lovely color.
a ruddy complexion.
The wind and sun had given color to the sailor's face.
a blush.
His remarks brought the color to her face.
vivid or distinctive quality, as of a literary work.
Melville's description of a whaling voyage is full of color.
details in description, customs, speech, habits, etc., of a place or period.
The novel takes place in New Orleans and contains much local color.
something that is used for coloring; pigment; paint; tint; dye.
background information, as anecdotes about players or competitors or analyses of plays, strategy, or performance, given by a sportscaster to heighten interest in a sportscast.
colors,
any distinctive color or combination or pattern of colors, especially of a badge, ribbon, uniform, or the like, worn or displayed as a symbol of or to identify allegiance to, membership in, or sponsorship by a school, group, or organization.
nature, viewpoint, or attitude; character; personality.
His behavior in a crisis revealed his true colors.
a flag, ensign, etc., particularly the national flag.
U.S. Navy. the ceremony of hoisting the national flag at 8 a.m. and of lowering it at sunset.
skin complexion as a characteristic of a particular people or ethnic group, especially when other than white: a person of color; a man of color; children of color.
one's religion and color;
a person of color;
people of color;
a man of color;
alumni of color;
children of color.
outward appearance or aspect; guise or show.
It was a lie, but it had the color of the truth.
a pretext.
She did it under the color of doing a good deed.
Painting. the general use or effect of the pigments in a picture.
Phonetics. timbre.
Chiefly Law. an apparent or prima facie right or ground.
to hold possession under color of title.
Music. tone color.
a trace or particle of valuable mineral, especially gold, as shown by washing auriferous gravel.
Physics. any of the labels red, green, or blue that designate the three states in which quarks are expected to exist, or any of the corresponding labels for antiquark states.
Printing. the amount of ink used.
Heraldry. a tincture other than a fur or metal, usually including gules, azure, vert, sable, and purpure.
call to the colors, to summon for service in the armed forces.
Thousands are being called to the colors.
change color,
to blush as from embarrassment.
to turn pale, as from fear.
When he saw the size of his opponent, he changed color.
with flying colors. flying colors.
of color, belonging to a racial or ethnic group that is not white and generally not associated with European descent or not characterized by slight or light pigmentation of the skin; nonwhite.
Women of color have higher gendered wage gaps than white women.
The program is aimed at supporting children of color with an interest in acting.
People of color are often underrepresented in the sciences.
The sensation produced by the effect of light waves striking the retina of the eye. The color of something depends mainly on which wavelengths of light it emits, reflects, or transmits.
Color charge.
See also hadron
See -or 1.
See black.
When beams of colored light are mixed, or added, their wavelengths combine to form other colors. All spectral colors can be formed by mixing wavelengths corresponding to the additive primaries red, green, and blue. When two of the additive primaries are mixed in equal proportion, they form the complement of the third. Thus cyan (a mixture of green and blue) is the complement of red; magenta (a mixture of blue and red) is the complement of green; and yellow (a mixture of red and green) is the complement of blue. Mixing the three additive primaries in equal proportions reconstitutes white light. When light passes through a color filter, certain wavelengths are absorbed, or subtracted, while others are transmitted. The subtractive primaries cyan, magenta, and yellow can be combined using overlapping filters to form all other colors. When two of the subtractive primaries are combined in equal proportion, they form the additive primary whose wavelength they share. Thus overlapping filters of cyan (blue and green) and magenta (blue and red) filter out all wavelengths except blue; magenta (blue and red) and yellow (red and green) transmit only red; and yellow (red and green) and cyan (blue and green) transmit only green. Combining all three subtractive primaries in equal proportions filters out all wavelengths, producing black. Light striking a colored surface behaves similarly to light passing through a filter, with certain wavelengths being absorbed and others reflected. Pigments are combined to form different colors by a process of subtractive absorption of various wavelengths.
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English col(o)ur, from Anglo-French ( French couleur ), from Latin colōr- (stem of color ) “hue”
From the Latin word colōrētur
You may think the word color just means blue, pink, and the like, but the word can also refer to something of interest, especially of culture or behavior. If you want to see some local color in an Irish town, you should head to the pub where all the locals hang out. As a verb, color can mean to give bias to something. A bad experience on the first day of school will color how you feel about school for the rest of the year. Another meaning of the verb color is to misrepresent or deceive. If someone colors their telling of a story in which they brought a cat down from a tree, they may make it seem like they rescued two little kids, three kittens and a parrot from a burning building.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
These risks aren’t encountered by all Americans equally: People of color and low-income people are more likely to live near highways or areas with heavy traffic.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
Refrain from calling her a pathological liar, even if just to yourself, as that will color your response to her.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026
Bathroom frequency and the color of your pee.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Then came illustrated guides purporting to explain how an anxious shopper might distinguish horse meat from cow meat by color, texture, fat and smell.
From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026
The siding was, for some reason, the color of aging bananas.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
“We had to imagine what these environments would be like in color. And for that we used all the movies that were shot in the ’50s or early ’60s about that period, the ’20s.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
"Our study also revealed that the nasal appendages can change quickly in terms of length, shape, and color. Their evolution is possibly driven by the respective preferences of females in mate selection."
From Science Daily ● Dec. 13, 2025
“Because it’s so simple, tiny little details will change the texture or the flavor or the color. It could just be, like, the humidity in the room.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2025
“Inspired by the most loveable ingredient of all, Butter is more than an indulgent, joyful color. It's an invitation to savor life's simple heartfelt moments,” the brand added.
From Salon ● Feb. 6, 2025
"Renly's made his own Kingsguard," the onetime smuggler explained, "but these seven don't wear white. Each one has his own color. Loras TyrelTs their Lord Commander."
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
I think that’s what I look for when I style as well, and building shapes and silhouettes and textures and colors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
Yes, you still may savor the glory of a great player wearing your colors, but there’s a good chance they’ll be packing up shop by the time they’re 25.
From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2026
The lyrics go: "Now I know we had no money, but I was rich as I could be / In my coat of many colors my momma made for me".
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
They could be different colors, different brands; one high top, one low.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Jeremy turned his head slightly and the colors shifted into a new pattern.
From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville
Blazo’s research shows that when sibling dynamics are colored by hostility and toxic comparisons, younger siblings experience “differentiation.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
It would be easy to look at all of this — the card tables, homemade jingles, wagons stacked with brightly colored boxes — and see only an exceptionally cute American ritual.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026
But Purcell isn’t the only systems failure that has colored Supreme Court elections cases of late.
From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026
In this illustration, colored areas identify frontoparietal regions that track uncertainty as participants encounter changes in associations they had previously learned.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026
Folded along its back were wings, immense and feathered and sand colored.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
“I asked her: ‘Do you think your past is coloring our therapy?’” she says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
Jobs, goods and services have all but disappeared, with uncertainty coloring the future.
From Barron's ● Jul. 11, 2026
Their vivid blue coloring is a result of the microscopic scales on the backs of their wings, which reflect light.
From BBC ● May 8, 2026
This provides a consistent backdrop of pink foliage, allowing an insect with similar coloring to remain hidden from predators.
From Science Daily ● May 2, 2026
I imagined that I was coloring inside the lines of a coloring book, but the pencil was waxy and smudgy and an eye is nothing like a flat sheet of paper.
From "The First Rule of Punk" by Celia C. Pérez
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.
