What does "auburn" mean?
A dark reddish-brown colour, often used to describe hair colour.
Auburn
/ˈɔ.bɚn/ adj, name, noun, slang
adj, name, noun, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A dark reddish-brown colour, often used to describe hair colour.
- Grammar: auburn is listed as adj, name, noun, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: adust, bay, bay-colored, bayard.
- Useful contrasts: blond, blonde, pale.
- Usage evidence: A tall, slim girl, half-past sixteen, with serious gray eyes and hair which her friends called auburn, had sat down on the broad red sandstone doorstep of a Prince Edward Island farmhouse one ripe afternoon in August.
How to use "auburn"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "auburn" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "auburn" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "auburn" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "auburn" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "auburn" is acting as adj, name, noun, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "adust" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "auburn", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A dark reddish-brown colour, often used to describe hair colour. countable, uncountable
Adjective
- 1 Of a reddish-brown colour.
"All were watching somebody in the garden with deep interest, their three faces close together: a jovial and round one, a pale one with dark hair, and a fair one whose tresses were auburn. “Don’t push! You can see as well as I,” said Retty, the auburn-haired and youngest girl, without removing her eyes from the window."
Adjective
- 1 (of hair) colored a moderate reddish-brown wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A female given name.
- 2 A surname.
- 3 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; A sizable city in Lee County, Alabama.
- 4 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; A city, the county seat of Placer County, California.
- 5 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; An unincorporated community in Weld County, Colorado.
Show 30 more definitions
- 6 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; A city in Barrow County and Gwinnett County, Georgia.
- 7 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; A city in Sangamon County, Illinois.
- 8 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; A city, the county seat of DeKalb County, Indiana.
- 9 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; A city in Sac County, Iowa.
- 10 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; A city in Shawnee County, Kansas.
- 11 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; A home rule city in Logan County, Kentucky.
- 12 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; A city, the county seat of Androscoggin County, Maine.
- 13 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; A sizable town in Worcester County, Massachusetts.
- 14 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; A city in Bay County, Michigan.
- 15 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; An unincorporated community in Lincoln County, Mississippi.
- 16 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; An unincorporated community in Lincoln County, Missouri.
- 17 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; A city, the county seat of Nemaha County, Nebraska.
- 18 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; A town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire.
- 19 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; An unincorporated community in Salem County, New Jersey.
- 20 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; A city, the county seat of Cayuga County, New York.
- 21 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; An unincorporated community in Wake County, North Carolina.
- 22 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; A census-designated place and unincorporated community in Walsh County, North Dakota.
- 23 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; A ghost town in Baker County, Oregon.
- 24 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; A borough of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.
- 25 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; An urban neighborhood of Cranston, Rhode Island.
- 26 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; An unincorporated community in Ellis County, Texas.
- 27 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; A sizable city in King County and Pierce County, Washington.
- 28 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; A town in Ritchie County, West Virginia.
- 29 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; A town in Chippewa County, Wisconsin.
- 30 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; A town in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin.
- 31 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; A census-designated place in Lincoln County, Wyoming.
- 32 Any of several towns or cities in the United States.; A number of townships in the United States, listed under Auburn Township.
- 33 A suburb of Sydney in the Cumberland council area, Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia.
- 34 A community in Nova Scotia, Canada.
- 35 Auburn University. informal
"On Sept. 19, Brilyn Hollyhand, Auburn freshman studying political science, announced his plans to join forces with Turning Point USA (TPUSA) to launch his “One Conversation at a Time” college campus tour."
Example
"A tall, slim girl, half-past sixteen, with serious gray eyes and hair which her friends called auburn, had sat down on the broad red sandstone doorstep of a Prince Edward Island farmhouse one ripe afternoon in August."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "auburn"?
Common synonyms include: adust, bay, bay-colored, bayard, brassy, brazen.
How do you use "auburn" in a sentence?
A tall, slim girl, half-past sixteen, with serious gray eyes and hair which her friends called auburn, had sat down on the broad red sandstone doorstep of a Prince Edward Island farmhouse one ripe afternoon in August.
How do you pronounce "auburn"?
Pronounced /ˈɔ.bɚn/.
Etymology
Early Modern English auburn (“brown, reddish brown”) from Middle English aubourne, abron, abroune, abrune (“light brown, yellowish brown, blond”), alteration (due to conflation with Middle English brun (“brown”)) of earlier auborne (“yellowish-white, flaxen”) from Old French auborne, alborne (“blond, flaxen, off-white”) from Medieval Latin alburnus (“whitish”), from Latin albus (“white”). More at albino, brown.