color

1 a property that becomes apparent when light falls on an object and by which things that are identical in form can be distinguished a shirt that is available in every color of the rainbow Synonyms cast, hue, shade, tincture, tinge, tint, tone Related Words overtone, undertone; primary color, secondary color, tertiary color; brightness, chroma, chromaticity, contrast, lightness, saturation, value; coloration, coloring, colorway, pigmentation Near Antonyms achromatism

2 a substance used to color other materials added some red color to the base paint Synonyms pigment, colorant, coloring, dye, dyestuff, stainRelated Words tint, toner; cast, hue, shade, tinge

3 the hue or appearance of the skin and especially of the face her color hasn't been good since she got sick Synonyms complexion, coloringRelated Words shade, tint, tone; features, lineaments, looks; countenance, face, visage

4 colors pl  a piece of cloth with a special design that is used as an emblem or for signaling flew their country's colors atop the highest mast on the ship Synonyms banderole (or banderol), banner, colors, ensign, guidon, jack, pendant (also pendent) [chiefly British], pennant, pennon, standard, streamerRelated Words bunting, gonfalon; black flag, Jolly Roger, tricolor, union jack, white flag; burgee, semaphore, signaler (or signaller), waft; badge, coat of arms, crest, insignia

5 a rosy appearance (of the cheeks) the stay in the country brought color to her cheeks Synonyms blush, bloom, flushRelated Words brightness, brilliance, glow; pinkness, reddishness, redness, rosiness, ruddiness, sanguinenessNear Antonyms paleness, pallidness, pallor, pastiness, wanness, whiteness; greenishness, greenness, sallowness

6 colors pl  the combined army, air force, and navy of a nation she hopes to carry on the family tradition and serve with the colors Synonyms colors, military, service, troopsRelated Words GIs (or GI's), men-at-arms, rank and file, servicemen, servicewomen, soldiers, soldiery; force; militia, reserves; armor, defense; gendarmerie (or gendarmery)Near Antonyms civilians, noncombatants

7 colors pl  the set of qualities that makes a person, a group of people, or a thing different from others we saw his true colors during the emergency Synonyms character, clay, colors, complexion, constitution, genius, personality, self, toneRelated Words distinctiveness, distinctness, individuality, singularity, uniqueness; attribute, characteristic, earmark, essentiality, feature, flavor, hallmark, mark, point, property, savor (also savour), stamp, trait; disposition, grain, sort, temper, temperament; composition, makeup; essence, essentiality, interior, interiority, soul, spirit; metal, stuff, substance; habit, way

1 to give color or a different color to she's colored her hair for so long and so often that no one knows what her natural color is Synonyms bepaint [archaic], dye, paint, pigment, stain, tincture, tinge, tint Related Words brighten, lighten; darken, embrown, tone (down); checker, dapple, daub, fleck, marble, mottle, pattern, polychrome, speck, speckle, streak, striate, stripe, variegate Near Antonyms blanch, bleach, whiten Antonyms decolorize

2 to add to the interest of by including made-up details he gave a highly colored version of a rather mundane experience Synonyms embroider, elaborate (on), embellish, exaggerate, hyperbolize, magnify, pad, stretchRelated Words dress up, gussy up; amplify, enhance, enlarge (on or upon), expand, flesh (out); fudge, hedge; overdo, overdraw, overemphasize, overplay, overstate; emphasize, play up, stress; caricature; satirizeNear Antonyms belittle, minimize, play down, understate

3 to change so much as to create a wrong impression or alter the meaning of his news reporting is colored by his prejudices Synonyms bend, garble, cook, distort, falsify, fudge, misinterpret, misrelate, misrepresent, misstate, pervert, slant, twist, warpRelated Words misdescribe, misspeak, mistranslate; belie, camouflage, disguise, dissemble, gloss (over), mask, veil, whitewash; bowdlerize, censor; complicate, confound, confuse, mistake, mix (up); mystify, obscure; equivocate, fib, lie, palter, prevaricateNear Antonyms clarify, clear (up), explain, illuminate, illustrate, interpret, spell out; decipher

4 to develop a rosy facial color (as from excitement or embarrassment) she colored after hearing the nasty remarks about her weight Synonyms bloom, blush, crimson, flush, glow, reddenRelated Words incarnadine, rouge, ruddle; abash, chagrin, discomfit, disconcert, embarrass, faze, humiliate, mortify