colorful

[kuhl-er-fuhl]

adjective

1. abounding in color.

   In their tartans, the Scots guard made a colorful array.

2. richly eventful or picturesque.

   a colorful historical period.

3. presenting or suggesting vivid or striking scenes.

   a colorful narrative.

   Synonyms: dynamic, spirited, vigorous

Other Word Forms

• colorfully adverb
• colorfulness noun
• uncolorful adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of colorful¹

First recorded in 1885–90; color + -ful

Example Sentences

Today, Wilson’s home radiates with colorful artworks from his private collection and vibrant African wood carvings climbing toward the loft ceiling.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Nevertheless, some family possessions survive and are exhibited here: a lovely walnut writing desk used by Otto Frank, table linens with family initials, colorful crockery, a precious photo album.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The orchestral writing, nicely handled by conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, can be colorful, though the ominous Wagner tubas become predictable after a while and the electronica for which Mr. Bates is best known is barely discernible.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But never has it been told better than by Mr. Bacon in this colorful and compelling book.

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He has preferred being driven around in colorful company cars—not the conventional black—and fashions himself as an outspoken technologist after earning his M.B.A. in Silicon Valley during the 1990s dot-com boom.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• bright 
• flashy 
• gaudy 
• hued 
• multicolored 
• rich 
• splashy 
• vibrant 
• vivid 

When To Use

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 characters—people 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 euphemism—it’s 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 mean—a lot of shady deals go down there. Example: The history of the museum is as colorful as the paintings that hang on its walls—it has seen some truly bizarre happenings over the years.