What does "hue" mean?
A color, or shade of color; tint; dye.
Hue
/hju/ name, noun
name, noun ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A color, or shade of color; tint; dye.
- Grammar: hue is listed as name, noun.
- Nearest alternatives: achromatism, alarm, apply paint, aquamarines.
- Useful contrasts: bleach, calm, colorless.
- Usage evidence: A perfectly healthy sentence, it is true, is extremely rare. For the most part we miss the hue and fragrance of the thought; as if we could be satisfied with the dews of the morning or evening without their colors, or the heavens without their azure.
How to use "hue"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "hue" 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 "hue" 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 "hue" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "hue" 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 "hue" is acting as name, noun 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 "achromatism" 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 "hue", 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 color, or shade of color; tint; dye. countable, uncountable
"A great chocolate-coloured pall lowered over heaven, but the wind was continually charging and routing these embattled vapours; so that as the cab crawled from street to street, Mr. Utterson beheld a marvellous number of degrees and hues of twilight; for here it would be dark like the back-end of evening; and there would be a glow of a rich, lurid brown, like the light of some strange conflagration; and here, for a moment, the fog would be quite broken up, and a haggard shaft of daylight would glance in between the swirling wreaths."
- 2 A shout or cry. obsolete
- 3 the quality of a color as determined by its dominant wavelength wordnet
- 4 The characteristic related to the light frequency that appears in the color, for instance red, yellow, green, cyan, blue or magenta. countable, uncountable
"In digital arts, HSV color uses hue together with saturation and value."
- 5 A character; aspect. countable, figuratively, uncountable
Show 1 more definition
- 6 Form; appearance; guise. countable, obsolete, uncountable
Verb
- 1 suffuse with color wordnet
- 2 take on color or become colored wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A port city in central Vietnam.
"Hue is the capital of Vietnam's North Central Coast economic region."
- 2 A Vietnamese province with that city as its capital.
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"A perfectly healthy sentence, it is true, is extremely rare. For the most part we miss the hue and fragrance of the thought; as if we could be satisfied with the dews of the morning or evening without their colors, or the heavens without their azure."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "hue"?
Common synonyms include: achromatism, alarm, apply paint, aquamarines, aspect, bedaub.
How do you use "hue" in a sentence?
A perfectly healthy sentence, it is true, is extremely rare. For the most part we miss the hue and fragrance of the thought; as if we could be satisfied with the dews of the morning or evening without their colors, or the heavens without their azure.
How do you pronounce "hue"?
Pronounced /hju/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English hewe, from Old English hīew (“appearance, form, species, kind; apparition; hue, color; beauty; figure of speech”), from Proto-West Germanic *hiwi, from Proto-Germanic *hiwją (“hue, form, shape, appearance; mildew”), from Proto-Indo-European *kew-, *ḱew- (“skin, colour of the skin”) or *ḱey- (“grey, dark shade”). Cognate with Swedish hy (“complexion, skin”), Norwegian hy (“fluff, mold, skin”), Icelandic hégómi (“vanity”), Gothic 𐌷𐌹𐍅𐌹 (hiwi, “form, show, appearance”). Compare also Sanskrit छवि (chavi, “cuticle, skin, hide; beauty, splendour”); Irish ceo (“fog”), Tocharian B kwele (“black, dark grey”), Lithuanian šývas (“light grey”), Albanian thinjë (“grey”), Sanskrit श्याव (śyāvá, “brown”).
Etymology 2
From Old French hu or Old French heu, a hunting cry.
Etymology 3
From Vietnamese Huế (化).