coloristic

adjective

col·​or·​is·​tic ˌkə-lə-ˈri-stik How to pronounce coloristic (audio)
1
: of or relating to color or coloring
2
: of or relating to timbre in music
coloristically adverb

Examples of coloristic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Orchestral writing in Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Youth’s Magic Horn) is a marvel of textural and coloristic effects, and two of the songs were repurposed in Mahler’s Second Symphony. Scott Cantrell, Dallas News, 17 Mar. 2023 For her part Skride conveyed the music with a crisp technique and moments of conviction, but her playing never really caught fire and overall had little of the coloristic variety or expressive depth required to truly lift this performance onto a higher interpretive plane. Jeremy Eichler, BostonGlobe.com, 27 Jan. 2023 This is crucial to the dark magic of race-making: those interested in the architecture of exclusion—and, ultimately, in the atmosphere of death that such exclusion takes as its necessary tribute—are always finding new specifics, phrenological or coloristic, on which to hang their terrible claims. Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2022 Mark Delavan wielded a booming baritone as the drunken father, but needed more poetry and coloristic variety. Dallas News, 29 Oct. 2022 Shin was clearly out to show off his formidable assets: technical brilliance, of course, and a huge dynamic and coloristic range, but also artsy touches. Dallas News, 13 June 2022 Yet Nézet-Séguin, the Met’s music director, was more interested in another element: the chorus, offstage and coloristic, an otherworldly fixture of an otherworldly environment. Joshua Barone, New York Times, 21 Nov. 2022 In this piece, Williams offers a nod to Ozawa’s Japanese heritage with the brass section’s big bell simulations, but more intriguingly channels the type of large-scale, densely textured, coloristic orchestral works that Ozawa specialized in. W. Anthony Sheppard, BostonGlobe.com, 22 Aug. 2022 Certainly there’s much of Strauss in this real showpiece — the dramatic flair, the succulent harmonies, the textural and coloristic riches. Scott Cantrell, Dallas News, 17 Sep. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'coloristic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

color entry 1 + -istic

First Known Use

1883, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of coloristic was in 1883

Dictionary Entries Near coloristic

Cite this Entry

“Coloristic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coloristic. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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