reddish

American  

[red-ish] / ˈrɛd ɪʃ /

adjective

1. somewhat red; tending to red; tinged with red.

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ˈreddish British  

/ ˈrɛdɪʃ /

adjective

1. somewhat red

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Usage

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.

Other Word Forms

• reddishly adverb
• reddishness noun

Etymology

Origin of reddish

First recorded in 1350–1400, reddish is from the Middle English word redische. See red ¹, -ish ¹

Example Sentences

Buried in the reddish soil of southern China lies latent power: one of the largest clusters of crucial rare earths is mined around the clock by a secretive and heavily guarded industry.

From Barron's

One early proposal suggested that these objects were unusually dense galaxies filled with enormous numbers of stars, with their reddish color caused by thick layers of dust.

From Science Daily

Blueberries sweeten it and lend a lovely reddish hue.

From The Wall Street Journal

And yet atollas gain their reddish coloration from pigments called porphyrins, which don’t absorb blue light all that well and which, if exposed to bright light, emit toxins.

From The Wall Street Journal

Every orifice we can see—Autumn’s mouth, eyes, ears, and nose—is emanating a reddish light.

From Literature