scarlet

[ skahr-lit ]

noun

1. a bright-red color inclining toward orange.
2. cloth or clothing of this color.

adjective

1. of the color scarlet.
2. flagrantly offensive:

   Their sins were scarlet.

scarlet

/ ˈskɑːlɪt /

noun

1. a vivid red colour, sometimes with an orange tinge
2. cloth or clothing of this colour

adjective

1. of the colour scarlet
2. sinful or immoral, esp unchaste

Word History and Origins

Origin of scarlet¹

1200–50; Middle English < Old French escarlate < Medieval Latin scarlata, scarletum, perhaps < Arabic saqirlāṭ, siqillāṭ < Medieval Greek sigillátos < Latin sigillātus decorated with patterns in relief; sigillate

Word History and Origins

Origin of scarlet¹

C13: from Old French escarlate fine cloth, of unknown origin

Example Sentences

In 1690, the English philosopher John Locke wrote of a blind man who associated the sound of a trumpet with the color scarlet, although it is unclear if this was synesthesia or a metaphor, a recurring issue in synesthesia research.

From Nautilus

The particles also blew east, resulting in smoggy, scarlet sunsets over the Midwest and Northeast.

From Popular-Science

Sally Canzoneri’s photo of a patched-together wooden structure is even less red than Asher’s print, since the building’s coat of scarlet paint has almost entirely vanished.

From Washington Post

Attaching a scarlet letter to all of them would indeed be problematic.

From Washington Post

In this sense, being required to wear an ankle monitor is akin to wearing a criminal record on one’s body—like a digital scarlet letter.

From MIT Technology Review

Gang tattoos are still inked onto his face, like scarlet letters.

From The Daily Beast

With scarlet lips and chemical red hair, the erstwhile agent is still making headlines in the West.

From The Daily Beast

“I don't know what they want me as a witness for,” he told reporters, whom he received in scarlet pajamas in the hospital.

From The Daily Beast

She confesses that shame “hung around my neck like a scarlet-A albatross.”

From The Daily Beast

The end credit scene of Captain America: The Winter Soldier introduces the new Avengers the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.

From The Daily Beast

Its pages are filled with the purple gowns of kings and the scarlet trappings of the warrior.

From Project Gutenberg

Under the long lashes of low lids a pair of eyes black and insolent set off the haughty lines of her scarlet lips.

From Project Gutenberg

The scarlet calico canopy was again set up over the bed, and the woven cradle, on its red manzanita frame, stood near.

From Project Gutenberg

As she peered into the face of Dr. Ashton, her own was scarlet and yellow, and her voice rose to a shriek.

From Project Gutenberg

It seemed; it truly seemed as if the tide of blue, grey, scarlet specks was submerging the enemy's strongholds.

From Project Gutenberg