colorist

American  

[kuhl-er-ist] / ˈkʌl ər ɪst /

noun

• colorists
  plural

1. a person who uses color skillfully.

2. a painter who emphasizes color relationships in a work of art.

3. a person who colors photographs.

4. a hairdresser who is skilled in coloring or tinting hair.

5. a musical performer or composer who is skilled in bringing musical color.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• coloristic
  adjective
• coloristically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• colorists
  plural

Etymology

Origin of colorist

1680–90; color + -ist; compare French coloriste

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

colorist colorists

Excelling more as a draftsman than a colorist, Lam created his most compelling paintings in near monochrome or with a limited palette.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 31, 2026

So she was having her hair done with her colorist in L.A. and then messaged me and said, “I think it’s gone very dark.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 22, 2024

“He was an extremely nuanced colorist in his abstractions — they were very mysterious paintings,” said the dealer David Zwirner, who owns several Kwiatek pieces.

From New York Times ● Apr. 24, 2023

Most of “Pour, Tear, Carve” carries the Phillips far from the impressionist and colorist works for which it’s best known.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 10, 2023

A good colorist will get color any way.

From The Painter in Oil A complete treatise on the principles and technique necessary to the painting of pictures in oil colors by Daniel Burleigh Parkhurst

As he hoped, naturalists found the guide indispensable, as did designers, stamp collectors, and food colorists.

From National Geographic ● Dec. 7, 2023

It hired five barbers and colorists, compared with the lone barber and colorist from 2017.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 14, 2023

The result is "Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds," a 96-page book produced by the best writers, artists, colorists, letterers, designers and editors that Dunbier could find.

From Reuters ● Apr. 21, 2022

But in larger production houses where each role is delegated to a specific specialist — retouchers, colorists, editors, social media managers — those teams may end up downsizing.

From The Verge ● Sep. 21, 2021

Hence all the Dutch painters were great colorists, Rembrandt being the first.

From Holland, v. 1 (of 2) by Helen Zimmern