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

At home box dye is nowhere near as precise as an in salon treatment where your colorist can customize it for your hair texture, porosity, and base color. —Essence, 19 June 2025

Amid the buzz, Vogue reached out to Carolyn's hair colorist, Brad Johns, to get his take on whether or not the portrayal, specifically her signature blonde hair, was done right. —Michelle Lee, People.com, 18 June 2025

Adjective

Channeling 1940s actor Rita Hayworth, celebrity hairstylist and colorist Dimitris Giannetos created her glamorous look for the evening. —Catharine Malzahn, Glamour, 9 June 2025

The entire encounter made Whitfield unwatchable from now on and revealed a colorist dynamic among the rest of the group. —Kyndall Cunningham, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018

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