lilac
Americannoun
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lilacs
plural
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any of various shrubs belonging to the genus Syringa, of the olive family, as S. vulgaris, having large clusters of fragrant purple or white flowers: the state flower of New Hampshire.
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pale reddish purple.
adjective
noun
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Also called: syringa. any of various Eurasian oleaceous shrubs or small trees of the genus Syringa, esp S. vulgaris ( common lilac ) which has large sprays of purple or white fragrant flowers
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another name for goat's-rue
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a light or moderate purple colour, sometimes with a bluish or reddish tinge
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( as adjective )
a lilac carpet
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Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of lilac
First recorded in 1615–25; from obsolete French, from Spanish, from Arabic līlak, from Persian līlak, assimilated variant of nīlak “bluish,” equivalent to nīl “blue, indigo” (from Sanskrit nīla ) + -ak a suffix indicating relationship or origin
Vocabulary lists containing lilac
Non-Color Words to Use When Describing Color
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Purple
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Example Sentences
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See Examples For:
There was an apparent colour clash with Bayer Leverkusen's away kit, which is mint with a blue pattern, so Newcastle players put on their lilac third strip instead.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
That’s no small attraction, though, for the multiplicity of hues—cerulean, lilac, coral, seafoam, sienna—are hypnotically rendered.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026
Infiniti oozed glamour in a lilac sleeveless Louis Vuitton dress with a fitted bodice and a cascade of ruffles tumbling from her hip to the floor, creating a long train.
From Barron's ● Mar. 15, 2026
A shattered lilac plate from my sister-in-law can be glued back together.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2025
Though he spoke little, she was glad to be out of her rooms, and dressed in one of her new gowns—a lovely lilac silk dress with pale pink lace accents and pearl beading.
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
At Chiswick, staff were watering drooping camellias and lilacs, shrubs that normally thrive in sun.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
But at the same time, lilacs are blooming and birds are flapping around in the trees.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2024
This insect is not native to North America and is a pest of more than 130 species of plants including poplars, ash, beech, maple, willows, dogwood, cotoneaster and lilacs.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 6, 2024
She described her childhood within the island's forested expanse, making dirt-pies and chasing garter snakes next to "fragrant purple lilacs, sour grapes in vines strangling the trunks of tart green apple trees".
From BBC ● Jan. 30, 2023
One might be the spark of a memory of the smell of lilacs on a country road in childhood.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
