off-color

[ awf-kuhl-er, of- ]

/ ˈɔfˈkʌl ər, ˈɒf- /

not having the usual or standard color: an off-color gem.

of doubtful propriety or taste; risqué: an off-color joke.

not in one's usual health: to feel off-color.

Nearby words

Also especially British, off-col·our. Also off-col·ored (for defs 1, 2).

First recorded in 1855–60

SYNONYMS FOR off-color

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

Their job is to fire you up, whether via jaw-dropping sports highlight or off-color pronouncement.
ESPN: The Worldwide Leader in Pricks|Marlow Stern|July 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Meanwhile, Farage has been slammed for his own off-color remarks about Romanians.
Elections Could Be the Beginning of the End for Europe|Tracy McNicoll, Nadette De Visser|May 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The n-word might out of bounds, but an off-color comment, racial in tone?
Why Reality Stars Like Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson Can’t Be Real|Tricia Romano|December 20, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Over his long career, Rush Limbaugh has suffered astonishingly little blowback for off-color remarks.
Racism Is a Tough Sell: The Real Reason Everyone Dumped Paula Deen|Daniel Gross|June 28, 2013|DAILY BEAST

But this is what Edwards has been relegated to: a morbid curiosity, a cautionary tale, a punchline to off-color jokes.
Edwards’s Life in Exile|Michelle Cottle|June 20, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Take away these off-color peaches and bring me something first class.
Jupiter Lights|Constance Fenimore Woolson
A thing to be forgotten always is the off-color story with which some people persist in polluting the atmosphere.
The Book of Courage|John Thomson Faris
The painted stone may be detected by washing it with alcohol, when the dye will be removed and the off-color will become apparent.
A Text-Book of Precious Stones for Jewelers and the Gem-Loving Public|Frank Bertram Wade
Wherever three or four men are gathered together, they rapidly organize a clearing-house of off-color stories.
Excuse Me!|Rupert Hughes
He tried to tell me an off-color story and forgot the point of it, if indeed it had any point.
Europe Revised|Irvin S. Cobb