yellow

[ yel-oh ]

/ ˈyɛl oʊ /

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See synonyms for yellow on Thesaurus.com

noun

a color like that of egg yolk, ripe lemons, etc.; the primary color between green and orange in the visible spectrum, an effect of light with a wavelength between 570 and 590 nanometers.

the yolk of an egg.

a yellow pigment or dye.

Informal. yellow light.

Slang. yellow jacket (def. 2).

adjective, yel·low·er, yel·low·est.

of the color yellow.

Disparaging and Offensive.

designating or pertaining to an Asian person or Asian peoples.
designating or pertaining to a person of mixed racial origin, especially of black and white heritage.

having a sallow or yellowish complexion.

Informal. cowardly.

(of a newspaper, book, etc.) featuring articles, pictures, or other content that is sensational, especially morbidly or offensively so: yellow rags;yellow biographies.
dishonest in editorial comment and the presentation of news, especially in sacrificing truth for sensationalism, as in yellow journalism; yellow press.

jealous; envious.

verb (used with or without object)

to make or become yellow: Yellow the sheets with dye. The white stationery had yellowed with age.

OTHER WORDS FOR yellow

9 craven, timorous, fearful.

See synonyms for yellow on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of yellow

First recorded before 900; 1895–1900 for def. 9; Middle English yelou (adjective and noun), Old English geolo, geolu (adjective); cognate with Dutch geel, German gelb, Latin helvus “pale-yellow”; akin to Old Norse gulr

usage note for yellow

It is perceived as insulting to use yellow to describe a person of Asian or mixed racial origin, as in the terms yellow peril and high yellow.

OTHER WORDS FROM yellow

yel·low·ly, adverbyel·low·ness, noun

Words nearby yellow

Yelisavetgrad, Yelisavetpol, Yelizaveta Petrovna, yelk, yell, yellow, yellow alert, yellow archangel, yellow avens, yellowback, yellowbark

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

How to use yellow in a sentence

“When I say everybody and their mama got court notices, the entire neighborhood of Harbour House had yellow court notices on every single mailbox.”
She Was Sued Over Rent She Didn’t Owe. It Took Seven Court Dates to Prove She Was Right.|by Danielle Ohl, Capital Gazette, and Talia Buford and Beena Raghavendran, ProPublica|August 25, 2020|ProPublica
It’s a species of mosquito that carries several deadly diseases, such as Zika, dengue, chikungunya, and yellow fever.
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through August 22)|Singularity Hub Staff|August 22, 2020|Singularity Hub
The Hangzhou app asked people to self-report their travel and health information, and then gave them a color code of red, yellow, or green.
Inside China’s unexpected quest to protect data privacy|Tate Ryan-Mosley|August 19, 2020|MIT Technology Review
“We’ve seen some really beautiful bright yellows, sort of golden-orangey colors, through to some really deep purple,” Filomena Pettolino, a scientist on MacMillan’s team, told Australia’s ABC News.
Scientists Gene-Hack Cotton Plants to Make Them Every Color of the Rainbow|Jason Dorrier|August 11, 2020|Singularity Hub

While our sun is called a yellow dwarf star, it’s not that small.
Let’s learn about the sun|Bethany Brookshire|June 24, 2020|Science News For Students
Abraham, a yellow cab driver and student, feels that blacks are targeted unfairly by the police.
Ground Zero of the NYPD Slowdown|Batya Ungar-Sargon|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Some of the items Indonesian military aircraft saw were long yellow tubes.
Wreckage, Bodies of AirAsia Crash Found|Lennox Samuels|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
With the first set I did, the colors of the couch determined that the rest of it would be blue and yellow and white.
#Setinthestreet: Your Street Corner Is Their Art Project|James Joiner|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Behind him stood a flock of fifth-grade boys—and two second-grade girls—all of them wearing the exact same yellow hat.
Even Grade School Kids Are Protesting the Garner Killing Now|Caitlin Dickson|December 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Cosby then allegedly ordered a pre-paid yellow cab that transported Allison home.
Bill Cosby’s Long List of Accusers (So Far): 18 Alleged Sexual Assault Victims Between 1965-2004|Marlow Stern|November 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The pink flowers are the largest while those of a yellow color are the smallest.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
The flowers grow in clusters from the extremities of the stalk; they are yellow externally and of a delicate red within.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
He was cast down to think that he might have spared himself the trouble of donning his beautiful yellow doublet from Paris.
St. Martin's Summer|Rafael Sabatini
In the presence of bromin the chloroform, which settles to the bottom, assumes a yellow color.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
As she peered into the face of Dr. Ashton, her own was scarlet and yellow, and her voice rose to a shriek.
Elster's Folly|Mrs. Henry Wood

British Dictionary definitions for yellow

yellow

/ (ˈjɛləʊ) /

noun

any of a group of colours that vary in saturation but have the same hue. They lie in the approximate wavelength range 585–575 nanometres. Yellow is the complementary colour of blue and with cyan and magenta forms a set of primary coloursRelated adjective: xanthous

a pigment or dye of or producing these colours

yellow cloth or clothingdressed in yellow

the yolk of an egg

a yellow ball in snooker, etc

any of a group of pieridine butterflies the males of which have yellow or yellowish wings, esp the clouded yellows (Colias spp.) and the brimstone

adjective

of the colour yellow

yellowish in colour or having parts or marks that are yellowishyellow jasmine

having a yellowish skin; Mongoloid

informal cowardly or afraid

offensively sensational, as a cheap newspaper (esp in the phrase yellow press)

verb

to make or become yellow

Derived forms of yellow

yellowish, adjectiveyellowly, adverbyellowness, nounyellowy, adjective

Word Origin for yellow

Old English geolu; related to Old Saxon, Old High German gelo, Old Norse gulr, Latin helvus

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

yellow

OTHER WORDS FOR yellow

Origin of yellow

usage note for yellow

OTHER WORDS FROM yellow

Words nearby yellow

Words related to yellow

How to use yellow in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for yellow

Derived forms of yellow

Word Origin for yellow