colorist

1 of 2

noun

col·​or·​ist ˈkə-lə-rist 

-lər-ist

plural colorists

: one that colors or deals with color

colorist

2 of 2

adjective

: prejudiced against people with dark skin

specifically : showing favor to light-skinned people over those with darker skin within a racial or ethnic group

Over the weekend, Khloé Kardashian faced a particularly vicious bout of cyberbullying that might be among the most inappropriate yet, since commenters began leaving racist and colorist comments about her five-month-old daughter, True Thompson.

—Andrea Park

Examples of colorist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Stone’s go-to hairstylist and colorist, Tracey Cunningham, has shared a behind-the-scenes look at Stone’s hair journey. —Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 30 Aug. 2025

The cover of the August 25, 2025, issue, by the artist Sergio García Sánchez and his wife, the colorist Lola Moral, is inspired by a different feeling. —Françoise Mouly, New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2025

Adjective

Since winning Season 7, many netizens accused Amaya Espinal of being racist and colorist years before her Love Island debut. —Stylecaster Editors, StyleCaster, 31 July 2025

For decades, Hollywood has struggled with authentically representing the spectrum of Black womanhood on screen, often defaulting to a narrow, colorist ideal. —Essence, 28 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from French coloriste, from Latin color color entry 1 + French -iste -ist entry 1

Adjective

color entry 1 + -ist entry 2 (after racist entry 1, sexist, etc.)

First Known Use

Noun

1685, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1990, in the meaning defined above