ocher

play

noun \ ˈō-kər \

variants: or ochre

Definition of ocher

1 :an earthy usually red or yellow and often impure iron ore used as a pigment

2 :the color of ocher; especially :the color of yellow ocher

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ocherous

play \ˈō-k(ə-)rəs\ or ochreous play \ˈō-k(ə-)rəs, -krē-əs\ adjective

See ocher defined for kids

Recent Examples of ocher from the Web

Teams from Marquette University have excavated a nearby red ocher mound containing the skeleton of a young girl, her bones smeared with the natural earth pigment.

— david hammond, chicagotribune.com, "Lost cities of the Midwest: A trek back to pre-Columbian times," 21 July 2017
Her thick gray hair is twisted around a headband of ocher stone beads, and her wrists are stacked with bracelets.

— aurora almendral, New York Times, "At 100 or So, She Keeps a Philippine Tattoo Tradition Alive," 15 May 2017
The living room's cypress walls are painted with an ocher glaze for a soft, aged look.

— m.k. quinlan, House Beautiful, "Rebecca Vizard Reveals the Whimsical Secrets Behind Her Southern Home," 27 Mar. 2017
WHERE ROMANS WEEKEND Monti skirts the ancient Forum, yet this effortlessly hip Roman enclave, with its ocher villas and cobblestone lanes, somehow still remains under the tourist radar.

— cnt editors, CNT, "What to Do in Rome: The Black Book," 22 Mar. 2017
The faithfully restored three-story hunting lodge has stone walls washed in light-ocher plaster and shutters painted the pale blue characteristic of the region.

— vanityfair.com, VanityFair.com, "How the Earl of Snowdon Turned His Heritage into a Lifestyle," 10 Mar. 2017
The lobby, for starters, is painted an exuberant shade of ocher — and filled with small clusters of paintings, sketches and a large Rococo-style papier-mâché mirror.

— natalie rigg, New York Times, "The Surprisingly Lively Home of a Controversial Artist," 2 Mar. 2017
For five hours, all that can be seen is an endless expanse of ocher shifting to vermilion, corrugated by ancient crags and pocked with swirling violet salt pan lakes.

— david prior, Condé Nast Traveler, "The Best Wild West Is in Australia," 24 Jan. 2017
In Breil-sur-Roya, an old French-Italian village of ocher houses in the valley by a quiet lake, Mr. Herrou is something of a celebrity.

— adam nossiter, New York Times, "A French Underground Railroad, Moving African Migrants," 4 Oct. 2016

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ocher.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.