reddish

[ red-ish ]

adjective

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

ˈreddish

/ ˈrɛdɪʃ /

adjective

1. somewhat red

Derived Forms

• ˈreddishly, adverb
• ˈreddishness, noun

Other Words From

• reddish·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of reddish¹

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

Example Sentences

This elephant-sized creature had shaggy reddish-brown fur and long, curving tusks.

From 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.

From Popular-Science

A gregarious man with fading hair and a reddish beard, Charlie often helped Mami with housekeeping and other chores.

From Washington Blade

By the 1790s, British entrepreneurs were adding palm oil to soap for its reddish-orange color and violetlike scent.

From Popular-Science

It has a reddish tint, hanging out in the constellation Pisces.

From Washington Post

Instead, they are blobs of reddish stars without any particular structure.

From The Daily Beast

Her finely penciled lips are a coppery brown, playing off her salmon-colored suit and her reddish hair.

From The Daily Beast

A few years later, Goudeau met Carr, a slender woman with a mane of long reddish-brown hair, at a Phoenix nightclub.

From The Daily Beast

Pedestrians dodge streams of reddish liquid in the streets, said to be pollution from tanneries.

From The Daily Beast

The hair is more reddish these days, and he likes to tuck under a black calf-skin hat.

From The Daily Beast

Microscopically, they are yellow or reddish-brown crystals, which differ greatly in size and shape.

From Project Gutenberg

Malarial parasites stain characteristically: the cytoplasm, sky-blue; the chromatin, reddish-purple.

From Project Gutenberg

The surface is covered by a shallow, reddish-coloured soil, producing a variety of shrubs and plants.

From Project Gutenberg

She had the reddish hair of the Binns and the pearl-blue eyes of the Rummelsbergers from over the mountains.

From Project Gutenberg

The cliffs of Red Point partake of a reddish tinge and appear to be disposed nearly in horizontal strata.

From Project Gutenberg

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.

Did you know … ?

What are some other forms related to reddish? 

• redishness (noun)

What are some synonyms for reddish?

• bronzed
• crimson
• florid
• flushed
• pink

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

• red

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

• color
• hue
• light
• shade
• tint

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