colorful

Meanings

1. 1adjectivecomparable

   Bright and full of many different colors.

   Grammar: Can be used before a noun or after a linking verb: a colorful scarf, the scarf is colorful.

   Patterns

   • colorful display of something

   The market was full of colorful umbrellas.

   She wore a colorful dress to the party.

   The children painted a colorful mural on the wall.

2. 2adjectivecomparablefigurative

   Lively, interesting, and full of vivid details or strong personality.

   Grammar: Used about stories, people or history: a colorful character.

   The mayor was a colorful character who loved telling stories.

   The book gives a colorful account of life at sea.

   The town has a colorful history of pirates and traders.

Word forms

Common combinations

colorful character

The old fisherman was a colorful character.

colorful display

The garden put on a colorful display in May.

colorful past

The building has a colorful past.

colorful language

The coach used some colorful language at halftime.

brightly colorful

The parade had brightly colorful floats.

Synonyms and how they differ

vibrant

Vibrant stresses energy and strong color or life, whereas colorful simply means having many colors or interest.

vivid

Vivid emphasizes intensity and clarity of a color or image, while colorful stresses variety.

multicolored

Multicolored refers only to physical color, but colorful can also describe lively stories and people.

picturesque

Picturesque means attractive enough to be a picture, which is narrower than colorful.

Opposites

Word family

color noun

the quality of red, blue, green and so on

color verb

to give something color or affect it

colorfully adverb

in a bright or lively way

colorless adjective

having no color or interest

discolor verb

to change the color of something, usually for the worse

Commonly confused: colorful or colorfast?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “colorful”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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