magenta
noun
magenta
1 American
[muh-jen-tuh]
/ məˈdʒɛn tə /
Magenta
2
American
[muh-jen-tuh]
/ məˈdʒɛn tə /
noun
magenta
British
/ məˈdʒɛntə /
noun
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a deep purplish red that is the complementary colour of green and, with yellow and cyan, forms a set of primary colours
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( as adjective )
a magenta filter
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another name for fuchsin
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of magenta
After Magenta, because the dye was discovered the year of the battle.
Explanation
Magenta is a bright reddish-purple color. If you dye your hair magenta, you'll really stand out in a crowd. Magenta is a shade that's related to colors like fire engine-red and hot pink — it's deep and bold. The color called fuchsia is nearly the same, a mixture of red and blue that's across from green on a color wheel (in other words, green is magenta's complementary color). Magenta-colored dye was first produced in the 1850s, and the color was named after the 1859 "Battle of Magenta" in the Second Italian War of Independence.
Vocabulary lists containing magenta
Pink
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Purple
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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:
Bold purple and magenta animations of galloping warriors silhouetted against rustling pines cover entire walls.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 7, 2026
A recently installed waterfall runs over stones, creating a soundtrack to a tranquil courtyard that’s bursting with spring blooms in tangerine and magenta and mustard.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2025
All are Harlequins jerseys, but none are in the club's trademark colours of blue, magenta, brown and grey.
From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2024
In 2022, this magenta state produced a balanced delegation of seven Republicans and seven Democrats, very likely a fair representation of voter preferences.
From Salon ● Dec. 1, 2024
With her magenta hair, she’s like the sun, around which her admiring planets revolve.
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
Magenta Fox, one of the members of the community Ehrenkranz created, has been laid off since 2023.
From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2025
Carol Butler described a passage from “Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out,” a critically-acclaimed book that has been banned in several U.S. school districts, where it has been deemed anti-family and inappropriate for children.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 24, 2024
Patricia Quinn played the original roles of Usherette and Magenta on stage in 1973, and is the owner of the sultry lips from the opening number of the 1975 film adaptation.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2023
The ground floor gallery at Magenta Plains is configured as a chapel — but of what faith?
From New York Times ● Aug. 3, 2023
Magenta, ma-jen′ta, n. a colour between pink and red.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various
An Oregon State University researcher who made color history in 2009 with a vivid blue pigment has developed durable, reddish magentas inspired by lunar mineralogy and ancient Egyptian chemistry.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 16, 2024
One Weather Watcher described it as the "best display of aurora I've seen this far south - greens and magentas clearly visible by eye".
From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2023
At the mixing station, Andrea Arriola-Pinto swirled light magentas, indigos and dark purples in four separate dishes like an artist mixing paint.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2022
"The moodiness of burgundys, magentas, and even deep blues bring in such a fabulous pop of color and beckon the chillier, crisper autumnal days ahead," she notes.
From Salon ● Sep. 24, 2021
The jewel tones shift from ocean blues to cobalts and magentas, from crimson reds to sunflower yellows.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
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.
