Meaning & use
color
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
The quality of an object that lets the eye see it as red, blue, green, etc., because of the light it reflects.
Grammar: Can be countable when talking about specific colors: 'a bright color'; uncountable when talking about the general quality: 'full of color'.
Patterns
- a color
- the color of something
- in color
The color of her dress is a deep blue.
Red, yellow, and blue are primary colors.
The garden was full of color in spring.
noununcountable
The skin tone of a person, especially when considered as a racial or ethnic characteristic.
Grammar: Used without 'a' or 'an'; often in phrases like 'people of color'.
Patterns
- people of color
- regardless of color
People of all colors are welcome here.
The law prohibits discrimination based on color.
verbtransitive
To put color on something, or to change its color.
Grammar: Takes an object: color the picture.
Patterns
- color something
- color something with something
The children colored the pictures with crayons.
She colored her hair red for the party.
verbtransitive
To affect someone's opinion or judgment, especially unfairly.
Grammar: Often used in the passive: 'His judgment was colored by anger.'
Patterns
- color someone's judgment
- color someone's view
Her personal feelings colored her decision.
The report was colored by political bias.
Word forms
| third person singular | colors |
|---|---|
| past tense | colored |
| past participle | colored |
| -ing form | coloring |
| plural | colors |
Common combinations
- bright color
- She likes to wear bright colors in summer.
- change color
- The leaves change color in autumn.
- color scheme
- The room's color scheme is blue and white.
- color blind
- He is color blind and cannot tell red from green.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hue
- More formal and often used in art or design; 'hue' refers to a particular shade, while 'color' is the general word.
- shade
- Refers to how light or dark a color is; 'shade' is a specific variety of a color, not the general concept.
- tint
- A pale or slight amount of color; 'tint' suggests a weaker version, while 'color' can be strong or weak.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: color or colour?
color vs colour
The British spelling; 'color' is the American spelling. Use 'color' in American English and 'colour' in British English.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'color' correctly as a verb?
Choose one answer.
'Colored' is the past tense of the verb 'color', meaning to put color on something. Option 1 uses 'color' as a noun, option 2 has a subject-verb agreement error ('she color'), and option 4 uses the wrong form ('are color').
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “color”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.