Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
dictionary thesaurus

olive drab

noun

Definition of olive drab

1 : a grayish olive
2 a : a wool or cotton fabric of an olive drab color
b : a uniform of this fabric

See olive drab defined for English-language learners

See olive drab defined for kids

Examples of olive drab in a Sentence

  1. a shirt in olive drab

  2. The soldiers were dressed in olive drab.

Recent Examples of olive drab from the Web

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

First Known Use of olive drab

1869

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year
NEW! Time Traveler

OLIVE DRAB Defined for English Language Learners

olive drab

noun

Definition of olive drab for English Language Learners

  • : a grayish-green color; also : clothing of this color

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up olive drab? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

imperturbable

play

very hard to disturb or upset

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. hogwash 'nonsense, balderdash'

  2. probity 'adherence to the highest principles and ideals'

  3. sequacious 'intellectually servile'

  4. inadmissible 'not capable of being allowed'

  5. oligarch, pejorative 'a member a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes'

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

olive drab

Test Your Vocabulary

Difficult Spelling Words Quiz

  • alphabet-pasta-spelling-help
  • Which is the correct spelling?
Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

TAKE THE QUIZ
Word Winder's CrossWinder

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games