reddish

[ red-ish ]

/ ˈrɛd ɪʃ /

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See synonyms for reddish on Thesaurus.com

adjective

somewhat red; tending to red; tinged with red.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of reddish

First recorded in 1350–1400, reddish is from the Middle English word redische.See red¹, -ish¹

OTHER WORDS FROM reddish

red·dish·ness, noun

Words nearby reddish

Red Deer River, Red Delicious, redden, red devil, Redding, reddish, Redditch, reddle, reddleman, red dog, red dogwood

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

MORE ABOUT REDDISH

What does reddish mean?

Reddish describes something that is somewhat red or tinted red, as in After washing my shirt hundreds of times, it’s gone from red to merely reddish.

The color red is a primary color at one end of the visible spectrum and is the color of human blood. Something that is reddish is not fully red.

Example: The sky turned a reddish color as the moon began obscuring the sun.

Where does reddish come from?

The first records of the term reddish come from the 1300s. It comes from the Middle English redische. It combines the term red, a color that resembles the color of blood, and the suffix –ish, which means “somewhat like.”

Reddish can be used to describe a color that is between red and white, or at least between red and a very light color. It can also be used to describe a color that is between two colors, one of them being red, such as reddish-orange or reddish-purple. Because of the way the color spectrum is viewed, reddish is generally only applied to colors between orange and purple because reddish-blue is purple, reddish-yellow is orange, and reddish combined with any other color is simply brown.

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What are some other forms related to reddish?

redishness (noun)

What are some synonyms for reddish?

What are some words that share a root or word element with reddish?

What are some words that often get used in discussing reddish?

How is reddish used in real life?

Reddish is mostly commonly used to describe the color of something as being somewhat red.

This morning I sat with a cup of coffee taking in the beauty of a reddish orange sunrise and counted my blessings. A quiet time and a reminder that moments like this are part of life’s treasures.

— Dan Rather (@DanRather) February 5, 2019

yard work on Mars consists of raking the bits of reddish brown rock away from the other bits of reddish brown rock

— bill wurtz (@billwurtz) April 5, 2019

So, I understand why green is very common in nature. Why does it seem like plants have a second favorite color which is something like reddish purple?

— Zach Weinersmith (@ZachWeiner) May 2, 2020

Try using reddish!

Which of the following is NOT a synonym for reddish?

A. crimson
B. rosy
C. claret
D. bluish

How to use reddish in a sentence

This elephant-sized creature had shaggy reddish-brown fur and long, curving tusks.
Will the woolly mammoth return?|Kathryn Hulick|September 23, 2021|Science News For Students
Their heads also protrude a bit higher due to the slight differences in the positioning of their vertebrates—allowing a better look at the gold ring encircling their reddish-brown eyes.
This rainbow-scaled lizard lived anonymously in the Andes—until now|Grace Wade|September 6, 2021|Popular-Science
A gregarious man with fading hair and a reddish beard, Charlie often helped Mami with housekeeping and other chores.
Paradise lost: Remembering the popular Rehoboth men’s guest house|James Sears|September 2, 2021|Washington Blade
By the 1790s, British entrepreneurs were adding palm oil to soap for its reddish-orange color and violetlike scent.
The fascinating and complex rise of palm oil|Purbita Saha|June 29, 2021|Popular-Science

It has a reddish tint, hanging out in the constellation Pisces.
Skywatch: What’s happening in the heavens in January|Blaine P. Friedlander Jr.|December 26, 2020|Washington Post
Instead, they are blobs of reddish stars without any particular structure.
The Care and Feeding of Baby Giant Galaxies|Matthew R. Francis|May 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Her finely penciled lips are a coppery brown, playing off her salmon-colored suit and her reddish hair.
Shirley MacLaine on ‘Bernie,’ ‘Downton Abbey,’ and Her Lifetime Achievments|Lorenza Muñoz|April 25, 2012|DAILY BEAST
A few years later, Goudeau met Carr, a slender woman with a mane of long reddish-brown hair, at a Phoenix nightclub.
Arizona’s Serial-Killer Saga|Terry Greene Sterling|October 20, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Pedestrians dodge streams of reddish liquid in the streets, said to be pollution from tanneries.
The Perils of Karachi|Steve Inskeep|October 14, 2011|DAILY BEAST
The hair is more reddish these days, and he likes to tuck under a black calf-skin hat.
Robert Redford on Sundance and His Future|Nicole LaPorte|January 22, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Microscopically, they are yellow or reddish-brown crystals, which differ greatly in size and shape.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
Malarial parasites stain characteristically: the cytoplasm, sky-blue; the chromatin, reddish-purple.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
The surface is covered by a shallow, reddish-coloured soil, producing a variety of shrubs and plants.
Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia] [Volume 2 of 2]|Phillip Parker King
She had the reddish hair of the Binns and the pearl-blue eyes of the Rummelsbergers from over the mountains.
The Soldier of the Valley|Nelson Lloyd
The cliffs of Red Point partake of a reddish tinge and appear to be disposed nearly in horizontal strata.
Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia] [Volume 2 of 2]|Phillip Parker King

British Dictionary definitions for reddish

reddish

/ (ˈrɛdɪʃ) /

adjective

somewhat red

Derived forms of reddish

reddishly, adverbreddishness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

reddish

Origin of reddish

OTHER WORDS FROM reddish

Words nearby reddish

MORE ABOUT REDDISH

What does reddish mean?

Where does reddish come from?

Did you know … ?

How is reddish used in real life?

Try using reddish!

Words related to reddish

How to use reddish in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for reddish

Derived forms of reddish