What does "color" mean?
The spectral composition of visible light.
Color
/ˈkʌl.ə/ adj, noun, verb, slang
adj, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The spectral composition of visible light.
- Grammar: color is listed as adj, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: hue, shade, tint, absinthe.
- Useful contrasts: black-and-white, grizzled, pale.
- Usage evidence: I don't like your taste in color.
How to use "color"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "color" 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 "color" 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 "color" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "color" 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 "color" is acting as adj, noun, verb, 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 "hue" 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 "color", 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 The spectral composition of visible light. uncountable
"Humans and birds can perceive color."
- 2 the appearance of objects (or light sources) described in terms of a person's perception of their hue and lightness (or brightness) and saturation wordnet
- 3 A subset thereof:; A particular set of visible spectral compositions, perceived or named as a class. countable
"Most languages have names for the colors black, white, red, and green."
- 4 an outward or token appearance or form that is deliberately misleading wordnet
- 5 A subset thereof:; Hue as opposed to achromatic colors (black, white and grays). uncountable
"The accident victim's face was white, drained of all color."
Show 27 more definitions
- 6 a visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect wordnet
- 7 A subset thereof:; These hues as used in color television or films, color photographs, etc (as opposed to the shades of grey used in black-and-white television). countable, uncountable
"This film is broadcast in color. Most people dream in color, but some dream in black and white."
- 8 the timbre of a musical sound wordnet
- 9 A subset thereof:; Any of the standard dark tinctures used in a coat of arms, including azure, gules, sable, and vert. countable, uncountable
- 10 interest and variety and intensity wordnet
- 11 A paint. countable, uncountable
"The artist took out her colors and began work on a landscape."
- 12 (physics) the characteristic of quarks that determines their role in the strong interaction wordnet
- 13 Human skin tone, especially as an indicator of race or ethnicity. uncountable
"Color has been a sensitive issue in many societies."
- 14 any material used for its color wordnet
- 15 Skin color, noted as normal, jaundiced, cyanotic, flush, mottled, pale, or ashen as part of the skin signs assessment. countable, uncountable
- 16 A flushed appearance of blood in the face; redness of complexion. countable, uncountable
"[…] her very embarrassment wore a graceful air; her high colour had softened down to a warm, delicate tint; and her dress, which looked beautifully new and fresh, was in good taste, and showed her off to advantage."
- 17 Richness of expression; detail or flavour that is likely to generate interest or enjoyment. countable, figuratively, uncountable
"color commentator"
- 18 A standard, flag, or insignia:; A standard or banner. countable, in-plural, uncountable
"The loss of their colors destroyed the regiment's morale."
- 19 A standard, flag, or insignia:; The flag of a nation or team. countable, in-plural, uncountable
"The colors were raised over the new territory."
- 20 A standard, flag, or insignia:; Gang insignia. countable, in-plural, uncountable
"Both of the perpetrators were wearing colors."
- 21 An award for sporting achievement, particularly within a school or university. countable, in-plural, uncountable
"He was awarded colors for his football."
- 22 The morning ceremony of raising the flag. countable, in-plural, uncountable
- 23 A property of quarks, with three values called red, green, and blue, which they can exchange by passing gluons; color charge. countable, uncountable
- 24 A third-order measure of derivative price sensitivity, expressed as the rate of change of gamma with respect to time, or equivalently the rate of change of charm with respect to changes in the underlying asset price. uncountable
- 25 The relative lightness or darkness of a mass of written or printed text on a page. (See type color on Wikipedia.Wikipedia) countable, uncountable
- 26 Any of the colored balls excluding the reds. countable, uncountable
- 27 A front or facade; an ostensible truth actually false; pretext. countable, uncountable
"At the far end of the continuum, Roger Seagraves collected personal items from people he'd murdered, or assassinated rather, since he'd done it under the color of serving his country."
- 28 An appearance of right or authority; color of law. countable, uncountable
"Under color of law, he managed to bilk taxpayers of millions of dollars."
- 29 Gold, particles of gold found when prospecting. countable, uncountable
"He smelted Wells’s colour before it was valued, and by the time anybody saw it, it had been poured into bars and stamped with the Reserve seal."
- 30 To bleed, either through injury or blading. Usally prefaced with "get". countable, slang, uncountable
"The local hero is getting color in tonight's spectacle."
- 31 Timbre, often in relation to orchestration. countable, uncountable
"In other words, Brahms saves the higher violin color for the more important foreground statement and assigns the soft swirling background to middle-register violins and violas, while the cellos dominate in their best voice."
- 32 The quality of a particular vowel sound. countable, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To give something color. US, transitive
"We could color the walls red."
- 2 change color, often in an undesired manner wordnet
- 3 To give something color.; To cause (a pipe, especially a meerschaum) to take on a brown or black color, by smoking. US, transitive
- 4 add color to wordnet
- 5 To apply colors to the areas within the boundaries of a line drawing using colored markers or crayons. US, intransitive
"My kindergartener loves to color."
Show 9 more definitions
- 6 affect as in thought or feeling wordnet
- 7 To become red through increased blood flow. US
"Her face colored as she realized her mistake."
- 8 give a deceptive explanation or excuse for wordnet
- 9 To affect without completely changing. US
"That interpretation certainly colors my perception of the book."
- 10 decorate with colors wordnet
- 11 To attribute a quality to; to portray (as). US, informal
"Color me confused."
- 12 modify or bias wordnet
- 13 To assign colors to the vertices of a graph (or the regions of a map) so that no two vertices connected by an edge (regions sharing a border) have the same color. US
"Can this graph be 2-colored?"
- 14 To affect the quality of a speech sound, especially a vowel. US, usually
"Many languages have a "neutral", roughly central vowel like /a/ or /ə/ which can be colored to a back, rounded vowel like [o] by an adjacent labialized consonant, or to a front, unrounded vowel like [e] by an adjacent palatalized consonant."
Adjective
- 1 Conveying color, as opposed to shades of gray. US, not-comparable
"Color television and movies were considered a great improvement over black and white."
Adjective
- 1 having or capable of producing colors wordnet
Example
"I don't like your taste in color."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "color"?
Common synonyms include: hue, shade, tint, absinthe, acid yellow, acier.
How do you use "color" in a sentence?
I don't like your taste in color.
How do you pronounce "color"?
Pronounced /ˈkʌl.ə/.
Etymology
From Middle English colour, color, borrowed from Anglo-Norman colur, from Old French colour, color, from Latin color. Doublet of couleur. Displaced English blee, Middle English blee (“color”), from Old English blēo. Also partially replaced Old English hīew (“color”) and its descendants (English hue), which is less often used in this sense. The spelling color was popularized in modern American English by Noah Webster, to match the spelling of the word's Latin etymon, and make all American spellings of the derivatives consistent (colorimeter, coloration, colorize, colorless, etc).