What does "colored" mean?
A colored article of clothing.
Colored
/ˈkʌləɹd/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A colored article of clothing.
- Grammar: colored is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: adorned, affected, antiblack, apocryphal.
- Useful contrasts: achromatic, colorless, decoloured.
- Usage evidence: She folded colored paper into a paper crane.
How to use "colored"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "colored" 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 "colored" 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 "colored" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "colored" 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 "colored" is acting as adj, noun, verb 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 "adorned" 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 "colored", 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 colored article of clothing. US
- 2 a United States term for Blacks that is now considered offensive wordnet
- 3 A person having ancestry from more than one of the racial groups of Southern Africa (black, white, and Asian); a colored person. South-Africa, US
- 4 A colored (nonwhite) person. US, dated, offensive
"When a white fellow gets in the ring with an eight ball the eight ball's got no chance. You see, 'cause they call boxing the sweet science. And that's where your colored just runs into trouble. That's just that science part. / Yeah, but Joe Louis is a big 'un."
Verb
- 1 simple past and past participle of color US, form-of, participle, past
Adjective
- 1 Having a color. US
"Wash colored items separately from whites and darks to prevent the colors from bleeding."
- 2 Alternative letter-case form of colored (“non-white, or mixed race”). alt-of, not-comparable
- 3 Having a particular color or kind of color. US, in-compounds
"The room was red, with a dark-colored rug."
- 4 Having prominent colors; colorful. US
"The singer wore a colored shirt."
- 5 Biased; pervasively (but potentially subtly) influenced in a particular way. US
"Mr. Brewer gave me his version of the history of the Conference of Studio Unions. It appeared to me then and appears to me now to have been a very colored view."
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 Of skin color other than white; in particular, black. US, dated, offensive, usually
"[…] a beautiful silk standard donated to the Third Battalion by the colored ladies of the city of New York, was formally presented to the battalion."
- 7 Belonging to a multiracial ethnic group or category, having ancestry from more than one of the racial groups of Southern Africa (black, white, and Asian). (Under apartheid, used as a metadescription for mixed-race people and peoples such as the Cape Coloureds.) Botswana, Namibia, South-Africa, US, Zimbabwe, capitalized, sometimes
"Most of the colored community speaks Afrikaans, whereas languages like Xhosa or Venda are typically spoken by blacks and English is spoken mostly by whites."
- 8 Designated for use by colored people (in either the US or South African sense). US, historical
"a colored drinking fountain"
Adjective
- 1 having skin rich in melanin pigments; wordnet
- 2 having color or a certain color; sometimes used in combination wordnet
- 3 (used of color) artificially produced; not natural wordnet
- 4 favoring one person or side over another wordnet
Antonyms
Example
"She folded colored paper into a paper crane."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "colored"?
Common synonyms include: adorned, affected, antiblack, apocryphal, apparent, artificial.
How do you use "colored" in a sentence?
She folded colored paper into a paper crane.
How do you pronounce "colored"?
Pronounced /ˈkʌləɹd/.
Etymology
From color + -ed.