red
noun
any of various colors resembling the color of blood; the primary color at one extreme end of the visible spectrum, an effect of light with a wavelength between 610 and 780 nanometers.
red
1 American
[red]
/ rɛd /
noun
-
reds
plural
-
any of various colors resembling the color of blood; the primary color at one extreme end of the visible spectrum, an effect of light with a wavelength between 610 and 780 nanometers.
-
something red.
-
Older Slang: Usually Disparaging. Often Red a radical leftist in politics, especially a Communist.
-
Informal. red light.
-
Informal. red wine.
a glass of red.
-
Also called red devil. Also called red bird,. Also called red doll. Slang. a capsule of the drug secobarbital, usually red in color.
He was caught with a half dozen reds in the bottom of his pack of cigarettes.
adjective
-
redder,
comparative
-
reddest
superlative
-
of the color red; of or like the color of blood.
a red rose.
-
reddish purple in color.
red wine made from purple grapes.
-
orange, golden brown, or reddish brown in color.
red hair.
-
having distinctive areas or markings of red.
a red robin.
-
red eyes from allergies.
-
(of the face) flushed or blushing, as from shame.
cheeks red with embarrassment.
-
of or indicating a state of financial loss or indebtedness.
the red column in the ledger.
-
Politics. relating to, supporting, or belonging to the Republican Party in the United States; Republican.
This is big news in that it flips a red Senate seat to blue.
-
Older Slang: Usually Disparaging.
-
radically left politically.
-
Often Red communist.
Red China.
-
-
Older Use: Disparaging and Offensive. relating to, noting, or characteristic of North American Indian peoples.
idioms
-
see red, to become very angry; become enraged.
Snobs make her see red.
-
paint the town red. paint.
-
in the red, operating at a loss or being in debt (opposed to in the black).
The newspaper strike put many businesses in the red.
red
2
American
[red]
/ rɛd /
verb (used with object)
red,
redding
Red
3
American
[red]
/ rɛd /
noun
-
a male or female given name.
-
a nickname typically given to someone with red hair.
red-
4
American
-red
5
American
red
1
British
/ rɛd /
noun
-
any of a group of colours, such as that of a ripe tomato or fresh blood, that lie at one end of the visible spectrum, next to orange, and are perceived by the eye when light in the approximate wavelength range 740–620 nanometres falls on the retina. Red is the complementary colour of cyan and forms a set of primary colours with blue and green
-
a pigment or dye of or producing these colours
-
red cloth or clothing
dressed in red
-
a red ball in snooker, billiards, etc
-
(in roulette and other gambling games) one of two colours on which players may place even bets, the other being black
-
Also called: inner. archery a red ring on a target, between the blue and the gold, scoring seven points
-
informal in debit; owing money
-
informal to become very angry
adjective
-
of the colour red
-
reddish in colour or having parts or marks that are reddish
red hair
red deer
-
having the face temporarily suffused with blood, being a sign of anger, shame, etc
-
(of the complexion) rosy; florid
-
(of the eyes) bloodshot
-
(of the hands) stained with blood, as after committing murder
-
bloody or violent
red revolution
-
(of wine) made from black grapes and coloured by their skins
-
denoting the highest degree of urgency in an emergency; used by the police and the army and informally (esp in the phrase red alert )
-
relating to, supporting, or representing the Republican Party Compare blue
verb
Red
2
British
/ rɛd /
adjective
-
Communist, Socialist, or Soviet
-
radical, leftist, or revolutionary
noun
-
a member or supporter of a Communist or Socialist Party or a national of a state having such a government, esp the former Soviet Union
-
a radical, leftist, or revolutionary
red
3
British
/ rɛd /
verb
red
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of red1
First recorded before 900; Middle English red, Old English rēad; cognate with German rot, Dutch rood, Old Norse raudhr, Latin rūfus, ruber, Greek erythrós; see rubella, rufescent, erythro-
Origin of -red5
Middle English -rede, Old English -rǣden
Explanation
The color red is a primary hue found at the end of the spectrum. You might turn red with embarrassment. It also represents financial loss, as in the term "red ink." The word red goes back to before 900, and we can see its roots in the Old English rēad. The idea of red as a signal to stop came in 1849. The color has been associated with rebellion as far back as the 13th Century, and in 1917, the Russian Bolsheviks adopted the color as their symbol. When the movement became the political party of Communism, the members became known as "Reds."
Vocabulary lists containing red
Red
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Spelling Practice 1, Unit 5
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
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:
The AC in my car was on the fritz and I arrived red faced and sweaty.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
But they wake up on race day with the dreaded red signal on their watch telling them they haven’t fully recovered from a shake-out run the day before.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
“The Compassionate Allowances initiative cuts through red tape and allows us to deliver support to individuals who experience life-changing diagnoses and need help fast.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
Pericana lands dark and red and glistening with oil, a spread for bread made with sun-dried tomatoes, peppers, and cured fish.
From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026
She saw a vision bathed in red of her husband flirting with the housekeeper in the alley of the hotel they were going to on vacation.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Colombia’s Red Cross organization is working on the ground in the disaster area to help reestablish living conditions for those affected by the quake.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
A consortium of investors that includes Jeff Bezos is closing in on a deal to buy a minority stake in Liverpool Football Club from Fenway Sports Group, the owner of the Boston Red Sox.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
Close-up pictures show the vessel is named Tihamah which, according to ship-tracking platform MarineTraffic, is in the Red Sea off Warner Point and is sailing under the flag of Tanzania.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
Balzary co-founded the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1982, and the band has since released 13 albums and won three Grammy Awards.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
“Oh, stop your worry prancing. Red already knows. She won’t tell.”
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
As Mr. Haskell kept watching, a flock of rainbow lorikeets, in their blue-, red-, orange- and green-feathered glory, blew in, “like windblown confetti,” chasing off the figbirds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
The city will prioritize homes for the buyout of the eight homes that have been red- or yellow-tagged — officially deemed unsafe to enter or unlivable, respectively.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2024
Then the Grulla students ran onto the stage to join their friends, and red- and blue-clad mariachis embraced each other joyously.
From New York Times ● Nov. 3, 2022
The ECB also hopes a revised schedule will allow a greater balance between red- and white-ball cricket, produce higher-quality matches, and ease the strain on players' workloads.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2022
One mother was in a gorgeous red- and-green pagne wrap, her sons drowning in suits whose shoulder pads hung around their elbows.
From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer
Veterans proudly wore the distinctive berets of their old regiments -red for the Colonials recruited overseas, blue for paratroopers of Metropolitan France, green for Foreign Legionnaires.
From Time Magazine Archive
Throughout the day, fans crossed the grounds in bright Latin American soccer jerseys, the eye-catching complementary greens and reds of Mexico and the rich blue of El Salvador dotting the crowd.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
A Bordeaux-style blend that embodies Black Ankle’s strength: elegant and ageable reds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
A few months ago at the Pasadena City College Swap Meet, Whitley watched Saar pass stall after stall, ignoring all the wrong blues and reds, until something suddenly caught her attention.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
I know a sommelier ready to pour some earthy organic reds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
There was the same iron bedstead, and the quilt was multicolored, faded but still cheerful with reds and blues and greens and yellows.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
He got redder and redder in the face, yelling and leading the crowd in chants of “Shame on Sliwa!”
From Slate ● Nov. 5, 2025
As he dispersed the light from dozens of galaxies into a spectrum, which recorded the amount of light at each wavelength, he noticed that the light was always shifted to longer or redder wavelengths.
From Salon ● Feb. 14, 2025
When the star moves toward a telescope, its visible light turns slightly bluer; when it moves away from us, the light shifts slightly redder.
From Science Daily ● May 23, 2024
Porter was a loyal soldier — she helped local candidates win through endorsements and made progressives in the redder parts of O.C. believe they could run and win.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 8, 2024
Her face was red and wet, but it got redder, and her sad eyes narrowed to angry slits.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
It’s an oasis for arts, tasteful wealth, and Southern manners in one of the reddest parts of the country.
From Slate ● May 4, 2026
For followers of medical disinformation, the claim that autism is linked to childhood vaccinations is the reddest of red flags.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 25, 2025
The research team looked for the reddest stars, and found 1,001 pinpoint sources of light, most of them young stars still embedded in their dusty cocoons.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2023
And with mass production also came newfound competition amongst farmers to see who could bear the most beautiful — in this case, the reddest — apples possible.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2023
He put die three fish on the board, pushed sharpened pegs through their tails into cracks on the cooking board, and propped it next to the reddest part of the coals.
From "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen
As Iran's young Shah came to power 20,000 Russian troops were camped outside Teheran, redding up their tanks for a triumphal entry into the city.
From Time Magazine Archive
Mrs. Truman was redding up her rambling, 80-year-old home at 219 North Delaware St. in Independence.
From Time Magazine Archive
He had been ushered out by the Boarder, who was still actively engaged in "redding up."
From Amarilly of Clothes-line Alley by Belle Kanaris Maniates
You should have seen the idlers aft and the boys forrard, redding up as if all their mothers was expected.
From A Man in the Open by Roger Pocock
Bricks can be kept clean with redding stirred up in water, and put on with a brush.
From The American Frugal Housewife by Lydia Maria Francis Child
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.
