ecru

American  

[ek-roo, ey-kroo] / ˈɛk ru, ˈeɪ kru /

French écru

adjective

1. very light brown in color, as raw silk, unbleached linen, etc.

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noun

1. an ecru color.

ecru British  

/ ˈeɪkruː, ˈɛkruː /

noun

1. a greyish-yellow to a light greyish colour; the colour of unbleached linen

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adjective

1. of the colour ecru

Etymology

Origin of ecru

1865–70; < French, equivalent to é- completely (< Latin ex- ex- ¹ ) + cru raw (< Latin crūdus; see crude)

Explanation

If something is ecru, it's the beige color of sand. If you're looking for a neutral shade to paint your bedroom, you might try ecru. In French, écru means "raw or unbleached," from the Latin root crudus, "raw." The word was originally used to describe the color of unbleached linen, a very pale off-white, but over time ecru has come to mean a slightly darker beige shade, like a cup of milky tea, or even more of a gray-tinged brown or yellow. In general, if beige sounds boring, you can go with the more elegant word ecru.

Example Sentences

Beauford Delaney’s 1964 gestural abstraction—a style he embraced only after moving to Paris in his 50s—is a swirling yet soothing congregation of ecru, dusty yellow and pale pink.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026

The bags are pretty simple in design: a bland ecru exterior emblazoned with TJ’s trademark emblem along with straps that come in a red, navy, yellow or green hue.

From Salon • Mar. 23, 2024

He stuck to a colour palette of breezy blues, cream, sand and ecru.

From Reuters • Sep. 15, 2023

Greene’s outfit Tuesday — a white, knee-length dress paired with an ecru Overland alpaca wool coat with an alpaca fur trim on the hood and collar — was surprising for a handful of reasons.

From Washington Post • Feb. 8, 2023

I thought about colors I hated: ecru, puce, lavender, beige and black.

From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou