Coloured
noun
an individual who is not a White person, esp a Black person
Coloured
1 British
/ ˈkʌləd /
noun
-
old-fashioned an individual who is not a White person, esp a Black person
-
-
a person of mixed ethnic parentage or descent
-
a person of mixed ethnic descent speaking English or Afrikaans as their mother tongue
-
adjective
coloured
2
British
/ ˈkʌləd /
adjective
-
possessing colour
-
having a strong element of fiction or fantasy; distorted (esp in the phrase highly coloured )
Usage
The use of Coloured to refer to a person of mixed ethnic origin is likely to cause offence and should be avoided
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.
See Examples For:
State legislatures literally criminalized the possession of things like David Walker's "Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World."
From Salon ● Mar. 19, 2025
Coloured candies - like Pez - include the additive as an ingredient.
From BBC ● Jan. 15, 2025
The Melbourne study is recruiting through a nonprofit partner organization called Many Coloured Sky that supports LGBTQI+ refugees and asylum seekers.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 24, 2024
"Coloured stones performed extremely well, as did signed jewellery... There's a great market out there for rare things, and there are still collectors looking for the very best."
From Reuters ● Nov. 7, 2023
Another comrade added a history of the Coloured people.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
"I felt the familiarity of that feeling, embracing the teenager within and the angst that I had and all the sounds that coloured that environment," she says.
From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2026
Dressed in a white shirt and a dark coloured tie, he sat in the dock flanked by four security officers.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
The nutrition supplement market is a big business, with hundreds of brightly coloured recovery drinks and capsules promising reduced soreness and faster recovery.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026
At the entrance of a little hole in the muddy river bank she points to a patch of dark brown in the lighter coloured mud.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Above his head, the coloured beam of light fell upon a small and primitive piece of tapestry—a picture of some knights in chain mail, with nose guards on their painted helmets, chasing a boar.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
