off-color
AmericanEtymology
Origin of off-color
First recorded in 1855–60
Explanation
Something that's off-color is offensive or vulgar. Your parents might stop inviting your uncle for Thanksgiving after years of his embarrassing, off-color jokes. You'll most often find the adjective off-color describing jokes that make some listeners laugh, but offend or disgust others. Standup comedians are frequently famous for their off-color humor, while politicians caught telling off-color stories can face serious career difficulties. Before American English adopted off-color to mean "in questionable taste," this adjective was used to describe faulty gemstones.
Vocabulary lists containing off-color
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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.
While accepting the inaugural award for best podcast at last Sunday’s Golden Globes, Amy Poehler — perennial optimist and the mind behind some of contemporary culture’s most feel-good media — made a rare off-color joke.
From Salon ● Jan. 16, 2026
In the one-way broadcast channel, guests could only emoji-react, so the thread wasn’t cluttered with giant stickers or, say, off-color replies from an unfiltered uncle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 16, 2025
But let’s be clear: Plenty of people wrote mean, off-color things that they wouldn’t say out loud.
From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2025
Mr. Cook, who no longer works in law enforcement, said that while he was not proud of his texts, it is common for police officers to exchange off-color jokes about their work.
From New York Times ● May 29, 2024
“He’s been a bit off-color ever since I brought him back from Egypt.”
From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling
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.
