chroma

[kroh-muh]

noun

1. the purity of a color, or its freedom from white or gray.

2. intensity of distinctive hue; saturation of a color.

chroma

/ ˈkrəʊmə /

noun

1. the attribute of a colour that enables an observer to judge how much chromatic colour it contains irrespective of achromatic colour present See also saturation

2. (in colour television) the colour component in a composite coded signal

Word History and Origins

Origin of chroma¹

First recorded in 1885–90, chroma is from the Greek word chrôma color

Word History and Origins

Origin of chroma¹

C19: from Greek khrōma colour

Example Sentences

But if there’s a little bit more ambient lighting, colors look washed out, or low in chroma.

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The Watts Towers aim to split the sky into chroma, spires tiled with rubble nothing less than aspiration.

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Acid-green projected light — known as chroma green, used by film studios for “green screen” effects — bathes the big gallery off the rotunda.

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First there was Robert Musil the mechanical engineer, who invented a chroma meter, a device for evaluating color.

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In their variety of chroma and brushwork, they vigorously explore different tensions between the flanking planes of color and the tangles of line between them.

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Related Words

• acrylic 
• color 
• cosmetic 
• dye 
• enamel 
• latex 
• makeup 
• oil 
• pigment 
• stain 
• varnish 
• wax