crimson

[krim-zuh n, -suh n]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR crimson ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

deep purplish-red.

sanguinary.

noun

a crimson color, pigment, or dye.

verb (used with or without object)

to make or become crimson.

Origin of crimson

1375–1425; late Middle English < Medieval Latin cremesīnus ≪ Arabic qirmizī (qirmiz kermes + -ī suffix of appurtenance) + Latin -īnus -ine¹; see cramoisy

Related formscrim·son·ly, adverbcrim·son·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for crimson

maroon, color, rose, bloody, rouge, dye, blush, redden

Examples from the Web for crimson

Contemporary Examples of crimson

Try Nebraska, South Dakota, Alaska, and Arkansas; what you might call a crimson tide.
One of the Midterms’ Little-Noticed Big Losers: The NRA
Cliff Schecter
November 10, 2014
And the next film I saw you in was the very first R-rated film I saw in theaters: Crimson Tide.
Viggo Mortensen Talks ‘The Two Faces of January,’ Blasts Fox News and Israel’s ‘State Terrorism’
Marlow Stern
September 27, 2014
In Crimson Room, players awoke in an unfamiliar room with no way of knowing how to escape.
Escape the Room—New York's Hottest Game
Justin Jones
September 15, 2014
Forrest Gump was about as crimson as they come, and America loved the bejesus out of him.
Let Us Now Praise Famous Rednecks and Their Unjustly Unsung Kin
Allison Glock
August 23, 2014
They have a deadline to meet with the project that completely intersects with my delivery of Crimson Peak.
Guillermo del Toro on Hardcore Gothic ‘Crimson Peak’ and ‘Pacific Rim 2’
Andrew Romano
July 17, 2014

Historical Examples of crimson

At the top was crimson, at the right hand blue, and at the left hand yellow.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
"Yes," said George, and he nodded; but his face was red as crimson.
Life in London
Edwin Hodder
Nearby, in a hall with crimson hangings, there was music and dancing.
Casanova's Homecoming
Arthur Schnitzler
Before Hetty had finished her sentence, her face was crimson.
Hetty's Strange History
Anonymous
In a few moments this had changed to crimson; brow and cheeks were glowing with it.
The Channings
Mrs. Henry Wood

British Dictionary definitions for crimson

crimson

noun

a deep or vivid red colour
(as adjective)a crimson rose

verb

to make or become crimson

(intr) to blush

Derived Formscrimsonness, noun

Word Origin for crimson

C14: from Old Spanish cremesin, from Arabic qirmizi red of the kermes, from qirmiz kermes

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for crimson

early 15c., "deep red color," from Old Spanish cremesin "of or belonging to the kermes" (the shield-louse insects from which a deep red dye was obtained), from Medieval Latin cremesinus (see kermes). For similar transfer of the dye word to generic use for "red," cf. Old Church Slavonic čruminu, Russian čermnyj "red," from the same source.

c.1600, from crimson (n.). Related: Crimsoned; crimsoning.