colorful
AmericanUsage
What does colorful mean? Colorful literally means full of color, especially a lot of different bright colors.It can also be used in a figurative way to mean rich with interesting or vividly depicted elements, such as characters or events.For example, a colorful story is one with a lot of interesting parts, locations, and especially colorful charactersâpeople with unique (or eccentric) personalities and ways of life.A place like a restaurant or nightclub might be said to have a colorful history, meaning a lot of very interesting or unusual things have happened there.The phrase colorful language is a euphemismâitâs a polite way of referring to language that contains a lot of curse words, obscenities, or other potentially offensive terms. Colorful is sometimes used in this way in other situations as a euphemistic or humorous way of implying that something is a bit seedy, shady, or outside the mainstream, as in That place is known to have a colorful clientele, if you know what I meanâa lot of shady deals go down there. Example: The history of the museum is as colorful as the paintings that hang on its wallsâit has seen some truly bizarre happenings over the years.
Other Word Forms
- colorfully adverb
- colorfulness noun
- uncolorful adjective
Etymology
Origin of colorful
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.
He came to The Mountain to sell goods from The Kingdomâcolorful threads, clay pots, and wooden spoons.
From Literature
She creates levity in the videos by having colorful animated backgrounds, through the use of puppets and by singing songs throughout.
From Los Angeles Times
As part of the reconstruction process, the team produced a replica of the skull and a colorful, touchable version of the curved crest.
From Science Daily
They sort their waste into colorfully labeled canvas bags the company provides, and wait for a Ridwell pickup.
From Los Angeles Times
Those customers tend to skew younger and prefer colorful, highly customizable energy drinks.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American HeritageŸ Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
