a pale yellow, sometimes reddish or brownish, fossil resin of vegetable origin, translucent, brittle, and capable of gaining a negative electrical charge by friction and of being an excellent insulator: used for making jewelry and other ornamental articles.
the yellowish-brown color of resin.
of the color of amber; yellowish-brown.
amber fields of grain.
made of amber.
amber earrings.
a yellow or yellowish-brown hard translucent fossil resin derived from extinct coniferous trees that occurs in Tertiary deposits and often contains trapped insects. It is used for jewellery, ornaments, etc
( as modifier )
an amber necklace
a strange relic or reminder of the past
a medium to dark brownish-yellow colour, often somewhat orange, similar to that of the resin
( as adjective )
an amber dress
an amber traffic light used as a warning between red and green
Certain trees, especially conifers, produce a sticky substance called resin to protect themselves against insects. Normally, it decays in oxygen through the action of bacteria. However, if the resin happens to fall into wet mud or sand containing little oxygen, it can harden and eventually fossilize, becoming the yellowish, translucent substance known as amber. If any insects or other organisms are trapped in the resin before it hardens, they can be preserved, often in exquisite detail. By studying these preserved organisms, scientists are able learn key facts about life on Earth millions of years ago.
1350–1400; Middle English ambre < Old French < Medieval Latin ambra < Arabic ʿanbar ambergris; confusion of the dissimilar substances perhaps because both were rare, valuable, and found on seacoasts
Amber is a brownish yellow color. Many cats have green eyes but those with amber eyes are likely to have yellow or white fur. Amber is also a translucent golden or honeyed-yellow colored gemstone, often used to make jewelry. That's where the color amber gets its name. Amber comes from the ocean floor — most of it is harvested from the Baltic Sea off the coast of Russia. The most likely origin of amber is the Latin word for "bitter," amarus, as the color yellow was often associated with bitterness and envy.
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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.
Its red-white-and-blue website shows the Statue of Liberty and a person wearing a cowboy hat striding with a partner through amber waves of grain.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
An amber heat health alert, warning of significant detrimental impacts to health and social care services is in place across the whole of England until 21:00 BST on Friday.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
The UK's Health Security Agency has also issued amber heat health alerts, which cover the whole of England.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
It is possible that this could be equalled or even exceeded later this week, with the Met Office issuing an amber extreme heat warning for some parts of England on Thursday.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
The only difference: her eyes glow crystal blue, like the color of the water in the Royal Harbor, while mine are an amber brown like my sisters'.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
There’s nothing at all modest about Amber Liekhus’ musical talent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
The island later served as the setting for Depp and now-ex-wife Amber Heard’s wedding celebrations in 2015.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
Early one morning on a recent weekday, Amber Nguyen was driving her 2025 Lexus SUV on a highway to a work meeting when she heard a loud bang.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
Amber wants more people to know about the "hidden gem on the Ormeau Road"
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
Especially if any of that gossip about Amber is true.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
I would swim early in the morning when the water was still or late at night as the sun set, casting stunning ambers and pinks streaks through the sky.
From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2025
The sunrise ambers and midnight blues of Joshua Cutts’s lighting design illuminate Michael’s states of mind as much as they do time and place.
From New York Times ● Dec. 5, 2023
The set design by Clint Ramos and Miguel Urbino emphasizes depth of field, its white framework a receptive canvas for Linda Cho’s refined midcentury costumes and the warm ambers of David Weiner’s lighting.
From New York Times ● Jun. 22, 2023
Brown hair, warm brown skin, brown eyes, may wear browns, yellows, ambers, cream-white, rich blues, tans, fawns, all reds, olive-green and maroon; flame-color, and rose pink in small quantities.
From Social Life or, The Manners and Customs of Polite Society by Maud C. Cooke
The natural flowers of Africa never clash with each other, or the skies, or the changing scarlets and ambers of the veldt.
From The Claw by Cynthia Stockley
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.
