sepia color

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable or uncountable

   A warm, dark reddish-brown shade, often linked with old black-and-white photographs.

   Grammar: Uncountable for the shade (sepia color); countable when talking about types: several sepia colors.

   Patterns

   • in sepia color
   • a sepia color of something

   The old portrait had faded to a sepia color.

   The designer chose a sepia color for the cover.

   Her walls were painted a soft sepia color.

2. 2noununcountablespecialist

   A brown pigment or ink originally made from the ink of a cuttlefish, used in drawing and painting.

   Grammar: Used in art contexts: drawn in sepia.

   Patterns

   • a drawing in sepia

   Artists once made sepia color from cuttlefish ink.

   The sketch was done in sepia color on cream paper.

   Sepia color gives the map an antique look.

Common combinations

sepia color tone

The photo has a sepia color tone.

faded sepia color

A faded sepia color covered the page.

rich sepia color

The ink has a rich sepia color.

in sepia color

The film was printed in sepia color.

sepia color filter

She applied a sepia color filter to the picture.

Synonyms and how they differ

brown

Brown is the general color, while sepia is a specific warm, reddish shade linked with old photos.

umber

Umber is a natural earth brown and tends to be darker and less red than sepia.

russet

Russet is a reddish brown often associated with leaves, and less with photographs.

tan

Tan is lighter and yellowish, whereas sepia is darker and redder.

Word family

sepia noun

the color itself, usually used without the word color

sepia-toned adjective

having a reddish brown tint

cuttlefish noun

the sea animal whose ink gave the color its name

Commonly confused: sepia color or sienna?

Practice

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

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