off-colouroff-coloradj.

Brit.

/ˌɒfˈkʌlə/, U.S.

/ˌɔfˈkələr/,

/ˌɑfˈkələr/ (in sense 1)Brit.

/ˈɒfkʌlə/, U.S.

/ˈɔfˌkələr/,

/ˈɑfˌkələr/

Forms: see off prep. and colour n.¹

Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: off prep., colour n.¹

Etymology: < off prep. + colour n.¹Since most early examples are in predicative use, probably originally an adverbial phrase; but apparently treated as an adjective already by the time of the earliest attestations.

1. Diamond-mining. Of a diamond: neither pure white nor any definite colour, and so of inferior value. Chiefly in predicative use.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > [adjective] > of colour or shade

off-colour1860

society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > diamond > [adjective] > inferior

blinda1398

off-colour1860

1860 A. de Barrera Gems & Jewels 164 If the manufactured diamond is found to contain a flaw, or what is technically termed ‘off-color’, its value is proportionately diminished.

1878 Scribner's Monthly 16 663/2 Diamonds..are referred to as white, Cape white, bye water, off color and yellow.

1894 Daily News 7 July 6/3 Purchasing ‘off-colour diamonds’ and substituting them for others of the first quality.

1911 L. Cohen Reminisc. of Kimberley 36 Same old kopje walloping gabble from him. ‘Cracked, spots, smoky, off-colour, etc.’ At last I sold it to him for two hundred and ten pounds.

1933 W. Macdonald Romance of Golden Rand 24 A few days after I had found my diamond it was declared to be off-colour, and, consequently, dropped greatly in value.

1968 J. T. McNish Road to Eldorado 144 Many South African diamonds..are off-colour and instead of being pure coloured are tinged throughout in colours varying from pale straw and light sherry to those as dark as very old acorns.

2. gen.

a. Not of a colour considered natural, proper, or acceptable; paler or darker than expected or usual.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > colour > state or mode of having colour > [adjective] > not of natural colour

off-coloured1872

off-colour1926

1873 S. Watson Clock Struck One 187 Colonel Winchester, who had..married a wife who, as the Memphis people would, and often did say, was a ‘little off color’.

1896 R. Wallace Farming Industry Cape Colony 9 Fifteen ‘Cape boys’—the name applied to the ‘off colour’ labourer irrespective of age.

1926 World's Work Sept. (Insert) 598 (advt.) A way that quickly restores ‘off color’ teeth to attractive whiteness.

1956 S. Plath Jrnl. 23 July (2000) 251 All clear clear in the blanched light of wrongness, not day, but some beige, off-colour daguerrotype.

1991 M. Halvorson To Everything a Season 89 Usually one or two off-color calves showed up in both herds each year.

2000 W. Self How Dead Live (2001) viii. 186 An off-colour Asian gent with a meticulous fringe of grey moustache.

b. In extended use. Not in good health, slightly unwell; (also) not up to the mark, defective, deficient, out of order.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased > disordered or out of sorts

out of estatec1400

disordainedc1430

out of order1530

mistempered?1541

untemperate1541

so-soa1592

indisposed1598

discomposed1603

out of sorts1621

disorderly1655

queerish1684

out of one's gears1699

disordered1708

uneasy1725

seedy1729

queer1749

scaly1803

quisby1807

under the weather1827

all nohow1852

toneless1854

nohowish1867

chippy1868

fishy1868

off-colour1876

dicky1883

on-and-offish1888

cheap1891

crook1916

lousy1933

the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > imperfection > [adjective] > in specific way: defective or faulty

defaultyc1390

defectivea1398

defaultive1398

imperfectc1400

faultive1496

defectuous1550

defectious?1566

defaulted1580

defectual1582

defected1589

defectible1612

vicious1638

unfixed1643

hip-shotten1648

defectuose1677

flawy1712

off-colour1876

flawful1881

faultsome1891

trick1961

rogue1962

the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > imperfection > [adjective] > in specific way: defective or faulty > that falls short

short1390

half-strained1683

unheavenly1752

unsplendid1809

unparadised1829

off-colour1876

sketchy1878

shortcoming1889

not-quite1920

1876 B. Harte Gabriel Conroy iv. iv. 90 Mr Hamlin had not been well, or, as he more happily expressed it, had been ‘off colour’.

1885 ‘F. Anstey’ Tinted Venus v. 60 I know I'm a wee bit off colour.

1898 G. Giffen With Bat & Ball xi. 195 The devil with which the ball..seemed to rise from the pitch..made him a nasty bowler when the wicket was off-colour.

1898 G. B. Shaw Mrs. Warren's Profession iii. 200 Frank: Off colour? Rev. S.: (repudiating the expression) No sir: unwell this morning.

1899 Strand Mag. Mar. 313/1 Even the flute was off-colour.

1931 A. J. Cronin Hatter's Castle i. iv. 80 I haven't been myself at all these last few days—quite off colour.

1955 Times 10 Aug. 3/3 Hampshire if slightly off colour at the end, duly won at Portsmouth yesterday.

1974 A. Fowles Pastime ii. 12 ‘Where's Christine?’ he said. ‘Over her mum's. Her mum's off colour. She's staying..till she picks up.’

1997 Wanderlust June 96/1 Anyone (and especially a child) who is off-colour at an altitude of 10,000ft or 3000m or above should be assumed to have mountain sickness.

3. Of questionable taste, disreputable; improper, vulgar; spec. (of language, jokes, etc.) slightly indecent or obscene. Cf. dirty adj. 2.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > bad taste > lack of refinement > [adjective] > vulgar

knavishc1405

peoplisha1425

porterlike1568

mechanical1584

souterly1589

tapsterly1589

mechanic1598

porterly1603

tavernly1612

plebeian1615

vulgar1643

mobbish1695

pothouse1780

commonish1792

common1804

vulgarian1833

vulgarish1860

unselect1867

off-colour1875

society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > moral or spiritual impurity > indecency > [adjective]

unhonest13..

inhonest1340

undecent1563

broad1579

nasty1601

indecent1613

paw1668

paw-paw1723

improper1739

unproper1797

fie-fie1812

warm1814

blue1818

indecorous1829

off-colour1875

sultry1887

suggestive1888

scorching1890

juicy1923

gamey1945

the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > causing laughter > [adjective] > humorous or jesting > other qualities of jests or humour

unwormwooded1628

ledger1655

canny1874

heavy-handed1910

off-colour1915

Dad and Dave1935

sick1959

observational1981

1875 J. G. Holland Sevenoaks 582/1 Everybody invited her, and yet every body, without any definite reason, considered her a little ‘off color’.

1883 National Police Gaz. (U.S.) 17 Mar. 3/1 A few choice specimens of the off color morals and hypocritical manners of the stage.

1915 Sat. Evening Post 23 Jan. 27/3 It is almost inevitable that sooner or later some one would be moved to tell an off-color story.

1932 Kansas City (Missouri) Times 25 Mar. 21 It seemed a bit strange for a minister to be so devoted a reader of such a (then) decidedly off-color publication.

1954 A. Koestler Invisible Writing 58 It was still possible among intimate friends to pass on a joke that was politically off colour.

1972 ‘G. Black’ Bitter Tea (1973) iv. 56 He had never played an off-colour commercial trick on me, possibly because I had never given him the chance.

1994 United Church Observer Mar. 54/2 After reading your reply to the writer asking for help concerning her new minister's smoking, drinking and off-color jokes..I decided to ask you my question: ‘What are acceptable standards for clergymen and congregations?’

Derivatives

ˈoff-ˌcoloured adj.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > colour > state or mode of having colour > [adjective] > not of natural colour

off-coloured1872

off-colour1926

1872 C. A. Payton Diamond Diggings 118 Often higher prices have been paid on the Fields, for large off-coloured (i.e. yellowish) stones.

1882 Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. 11 345 But the best of all his African workmen, he said, were the men from Mamre or Gnadendhal Moravian Mission stations, ‘off-coloured boys,’ of Hottentot stock.

1936 Times Lit. Suppl. 12 Sept. 717/2 A rabble of races, white, black and off-coloured, thus inhabits the Southern Africa of to-day.

1985 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 16 June xi. 26/1 Neighborhood gossip or off-colored jokes were not exchanged in my father's presence.

1994 Science 17 June 1703/2 The inactive (iav) mutant..seems to be a neurotransmitter variant, although this does not also reveal itself as an off-colored fly.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	off-colour
释义	off-colouroff-coloradj. Brit. /ˌɒfˈkʌlə/, U.S. /ˌɔfˈkələr/, /ˌɑfˈkələr/ (in sense 1)Brit. /ˈɒfkʌlə/, U.S. /ˈɔfˌkələr/, /ˈɑfˌkələr/ Forms: see off prep. and colour n.¹ Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: off prep., colour n.¹ Etymology: < off prep. + colour n.¹Since most early examples are in predicative use, probably originally an adverbial phrase; but apparently treated as an adjective already by the time of the earliest attestations. 1. Diamond-mining. Of a diamond: neither pure white nor any definite colour, and so of inferior value. Chiefly in predicative use. ΘΚΠ the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > [adjective] > of colour or shade off-colour1860 society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > diamond > [adjective] > inferior blinda1398 off-colour1860 1860 A. de Barrera Gems & Jewels 164 If the manufactured diamond is found to contain a flaw, or what is technically termed ‘off-color’, its value is proportionately diminished. 1878 Scribner's Monthly 16 663/2 Diamonds..are referred to as white, Cape white, bye water, off color and yellow. 1894 Daily News 7 July 6/3 Purchasing ‘off-colour diamonds’ and substituting them for others of the first quality. 1911 L. Cohen Reminisc. of Kimberley 36 Same old kopje walloping gabble from him. ‘Cracked, spots, smoky, off-colour, etc.’ At last I sold it to him for two hundred and ten pounds. 1933 W. Macdonald Romance of Golden Rand 24 A few days after I had found my diamond it was declared to be off-colour, and, consequently, dropped greatly in value. 1968 J. T. McNish Road to Eldorado 144 Many South African diamonds..are off-colour and instead of being pure coloured are tinged throughout in colours varying from pale straw and light sherry to those as dark as very old acorns. 2. gen. a. Not of a colour considered natural, proper, or acceptable; paler or darker than expected or usual. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > colour > state or mode of having colour > [adjective] > not of natural colour off-coloured1872 off-colour1926 1873 S. Watson Clock Struck One 187 Colonel Winchester, who had..married a wife who, as the Memphis people would, and often did say, was a ‘little off color’. 1896 R. Wallace Farming Industry Cape Colony 9 Fifteen ‘Cape boys’—the name applied to the ‘off colour’ labourer irrespective of age. 1926 World's Work Sept. (Insert) 598 (advt.) A way that quickly restores ‘off color’ teeth to attractive whiteness. 1956 S. Plath Jrnl. 23 July (2000) 251 All clear clear in the blanched light of wrongness, not day, but some beige, off-colour daguerrotype. 1991 M. Halvorson To Everything a Season 89 Usually one or two off-color calves showed up in both herds each year. 2000 W. Self How Dead Live (2001) viii. 186 An off-colour Asian gent with a meticulous fringe of grey moustache. b. In extended use. Not in good health, slightly unwell; (also) not up to the mark, defective, deficient, out of order. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased > disordered or out of sorts out of estatec1400 disordainedc1430 out of order1530 mistempered?1541 untemperate1541 so-soa1592 indisposed1598 discomposed1603 out of sorts1621 disorderly1655 queerish1684 out of one's gears1699 disordered1708 uneasy1725 seedy1729 queer1749 scaly1803 quisby1807 under the weather1827 all nohow1852 toneless1854 nohowish1867 chippy1868 fishy1868 off-colour1876 dicky1883 on-and-offish1888 cheap1891 crook1916 lousy1933 the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > imperfection > [adjective] > in specific way: defective or faulty defaultyc1390 defectivea1398 defaultive1398 imperfectc1400 faultive1496 defectuous1550 defectious?1566 defaulted1580 defectual1582 defected1589 defectible1612 vicious1638 unfixed1643 hip-shotten1648 defectuose1677 flawy1712 off-colour1876 flawful1881 faultsome1891 trick1961 rogue1962 the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > imperfection > [adjective] > in specific way: defective or faulty > that falls short short1390 half-strained1683 unheavenly1752 unsplendid1809 unparadised1829 off-colour1876 sketchy1878 shortcoming1889 not-quite1920 1876 B. Harte Gabriel Conroy iv. iv. 90 Mr Hamlin had not been well, or, as he more happily expressed it, had been ‘off colour’. 1885 ‘F. Anstey’ Tinted Venus v. 60 I know I'm a wee bit off colour. 1898 G. Giffen With Bat & Ball xi. 195 The devil with which the ball..seemed to rise from the pitch..made him a nasty bowler when the wicket was off-colour. 1898 G. B. Shaw Mrs. Warren's Profession iii. 200 Frank: Off colour? Rev. S.: (repudiating the expression) No sir: unwell this morning. 1899 Strand Mag. Mar. 313/1 Even the flute was off-colour. 1931 A. J. Cronin Hatter's Castle i. iv. 80 I haven't been myself at all these last few days—quite off colour. 1955 Times 10 Aug. 3/3 Hampshire if slightly off colour at the end, duly won at Portsmouth yesterday. 1974 A. Fowles Pastime ii. 12 ‘Where's Christine?’ he said. ‘Over her mum's. Her mum's off colour. She's staying..till she picks up.’ 1997 Wanderlust June 96/1 Anyone (and especially a child) who is off-colour at an altitude of 10,000ft or 3000m or above should be assumed to have mountain sickness. 3. Of questionable taste, disreputable; improper, vulgar; spec. (of language, jokes, etc.) slightly indecent or obscene. Cf. dirty adj. 2. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > bad taste > lack of refinement > [adjective] > vulgar knavishc1405 peoplisha1425 porterlike1568 mechanical1584 souterly1589 tapsterly1589 mechanic1598 porterly1603 tavernly1612 plebeian1615 vulgar1643 mobbish1695 pothouse1780 commonish1792 common1804 vulgarian1833 vulgarish1860 unselect1867 off-colour1875 society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > moral or spiritual impurity > indecency > [adjective] unhonest13.. inhonest1340 undecent1563 broad1579 nasty1601 indecent1613 paw1668 paw-paw1723 improper1739 unproper1797 fie-fie1812 warm1814 blue1818 indecorous1829 off-colour1875 sultry1887 suggestive1888 scorching1890 juicy1923 gamey1945 the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > causing laughter > [adjective] > humorous or jesting > other qualities of jests or humour unwormwooded1628 ledger1655 canny1874 heavy-handed1910 off-colour1915 Dad and Dave1935 sick1959 observational1981 1875 J. G. Holland Sevenoaks 582/1 Everybody invited her, and yet every body, without any definite reason, considered her a little ‘off color’. 1883 National Police Gaz. (U.S.) 17 Mar. 3/1 A few choice specimens of the off color morals and hypocritical manners of the stage. 1915 Sat. Evening Post 23 Jan. 27/3 It is almost inevitable that sooner or later some one would be moved to tell an off-color story. 1932 Kansas City (Missouri) Times 25 Mar. 21 It seemed a bit strange for a minister to be so devoted a reader of such a (then) decidedly off-color publication. 1954 A. Koestler Invisible Writing 58 It was still possible among intimate friends to pass on a joke that was politically off colour. 1972 ‘G. Black’ Bitter Tea (1973) iv. 56 He had never played an off-colour commercial trick on me, possibly because I had never given him the chance. 1994 United Church Observer Mar. 54/2 After reading your reply to the writer asking for help concerning her new minister's smoking, drinking and off-color jokes..I decided to ask you my question: ‘What are acceptable standards for clergymen and congregations?’ Derivatives ˈoff-ˌcoloured adj. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > colour > state or mode of having colour > [adjective] > not of natural colour off-coloured1872 off-colour1926 1872 C. A. Payton Diamond Diggings 118 Often higher prices have been paid on the Fields, for large off-coloured (i.e. yellowish) stones. 1882 Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. 11 345 But the best of all his African workmen, he said, were the men from Mamre or Gnadendhal Moravian Mission stations, ‘off-coloured boys,’ of Hottentot stock. 1936 Times Lit. Suppl. 12 Sept. 717/2 A rabble of races, white, black and off-coloured, thus inhabits the Southern Africa of to-day. 1985 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 16 June xi. 26/1 Neighborhood gossip or off-colored jokes were not exchanged in my father's presence. 1994 Science 17 June 1703/2 The inactive (iav) mutant..seems to be a neurotransmitter variant, although this does not also reveal itself as an off-colored fly. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < adj.1860
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