rose-colouredrose-coloredadj.
/ˈrəʊzˌkʌləd/, U.S. /ˈroʊzˌkələrd/ 1. Having a pink or light crimson colour like that of a rose; roseate, rosy.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > red or redness > [adjective] > rose-red or -pink
rosenOE
rose-redOE
rosy1381
rosat?c1425
roseate1449
rosy-redc1450
rosetc1500
rosing?a1505
rose-coloured1526
rose-like1530
roseal1531
rosal1566
rosy-fingered1590
red rose1591
rosy-coloured1597
carnation1598
damask1598
rosied1600
damasked1609
rosical1631
roseac1638
rose1667
bloom-coloured1678
rose pink1778
rosaceous1783
rose-tinted1804
rose1806
rose1832
rose du Barry1856
blush-rose1888
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Rev. xvii. 3 I sawe a woman sytt apon a rose colored best.
1580 in W. K. Clay Liturg. Services Q. Eliz. (1847) 578 (modernized text) Strengthen her hand..to double into the bosom of that rose-coloured whore that [etc.].
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage viii. ii. 615 First coloured blacke, then ash-coloured, then rose-coloured, then red.
1789 J. Pilkington View Derbyshire I. viii. 323 A dry, spongy, violet pulp, from which a rose-coloured pigment may be prepared.
1854 L. Tomlinson tr. D. F. J. Arago Pop. Lect. Astron. 59 Several rose-coloured protuberances..beyond the dark limb of the moon.
1886 A. Winchell Walks & Talks in Geol. Field 131 A second basin..has its bottom covered by..rose-coloured salt-crystals.
1929 H. A. A. Nicholls & J. H. Holland Text-bk. Trop. Agric. (ed. 2) ii. xii. 354 The jalap plant is a beautiful climber, with rose-coloured flowers, found growing wild in the mountains of Mexico.
1972 A. Tyler Clock Winder ix. 218 The windows were rose-colored and stippled with asterisks.
2006 J. Updike Terrorist v. 267 A copy bound in limp rose-colored leather.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adjective] > wearing clothing for body (and limbs) > wearing loose clothing > wearing a robe or gown > of specific kind > types of
rose-coloured1546
togeda1616
rug-gowned1630
togated1634
pretextate1657
black-robed1673
ermined1735
night-robed1799
snow-white1847
togate1851
vestmented1859
togaed1860
kimonoed1894
1546 tr. A. P. Gasser Prognostication D 5 b The roase coulered persons subject to Jupiter, as Patriarches, Cardinalles,..shalbe had in much estimation and honour.
3. figurative. Characterized by cheerful optimism, or a tendency to regard matters in a highly favourable or attractive light.
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the mind > mental capacity > expectation > hope > optimism > [adjective] > unrealistically
rose-coloured1780
couleur de rose1783
rose-tinted1783
Panglossian1831
rose pink1837
Micawber-like1855
Micawberish1859
Pangloss1881
blue-sky1895
Panglossic1926
1780 H. More Let. in W. Roberts Mem. (1834) I. ii. i. 103 She represents her heroine when she got up in the morning to have had ‘rose-coloured thoughts’.
1815 N. Amer. Rev. July 210 A poem of the finest black, that it is possible to imagine, and which the translator has found the means to get read by a people whose thoughts are rose-coloured.
1854 C. M. Yonge Castle Builders iv. 56 The first rose-coloured light in which they had viewed everything, was wearing off.
1856 C. Dickens Little Dorrit (1857) i. xxxiv. 299 I don't like to dispel your generous visions, and I would give any money..to live in such a rose-colored mist.
1875 F. E. Trollope Charming Fellow I. vii. 84 This rose-coloured condition of things did not last.
1904 W. Wilberforce & A. R. Gilbert Velasquez v. 57 The subtle symbolism of the Classics fails to touch Velasquez's relentless Realism with any rose-coloured tinge of Romance.
1960 Billboard 5 Sept. 66/2 If we would take a non-rose-colored view, however, it must be allowed that prospects this time are dim.
1991 P. Slater Dream Deferred i. i. 16 Officers in Vietnam were too busy trying to flatter their superiors with rose-colored statistics to pay attention to their subordinates.
Phrases
to see through rose-coloured spectacles (also glasses) and variants: = to see through rose-tinted spectacles (also glasses) at rose-tinted adj. Phrases.
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1830 Fraser's Mag. 1 533/2 We have lost some of our enthusiasm, it is true. We don't go now in rose-coloured spectacles to exhibitions.
1844 Boston Med. & Surg. Jrnl. 29 369 His friend need not be obliged to look at his labors through the rose-colored glasses of personal kindness to see them under a favorable aspect.
1861 T. Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. II. vi. 102 Oxford was a sort of Utopia to the Captain... [He] continued..to behold towers, and quadrangles, and chapels,..through rose-coloured spectacles.
1921 Princess P. Metternich Days that are no More iii. 104 I was young and favoured by fortune, no troubles had yet befallen me, and I saw everything through rose-coloured spectacles.
1961 W. Brandon Indians 301/1 The explorers were scarcely in a condition to look at this particular new world..through rose-colored glasses.
1981 Oxf. Jrnl. 15 May 8/2 Mrs M—— must be viewing Carterton crossroads through rose-coloured spectacles. Far from being vastly improved, it is becoming a ghastly eyesore.
2006 Wired June 28/5 Gregg Easterbrook blamed our gloomy disposition on factors like having too much choice. Critics said he should lose the rose-colored specs and take a look around.
Compounds
In names of plants, birds, and other animals. Cf. rose n.1 and adj.1 Compounds 2, Compounds 2e; roseate adj. Compounds 3; rosy adj. and n. Compounds 2.† rose-coloured alga n. Obsolete = red alga n.† rose-coloured cow-bird n. Obsolete rare = rose-coloured starling n.† rose-coloured flounder n. Obsolete rare a pale form of the flounder, Platichthys flesus (originally supposed to be a distinct species).† rose-coloured pelican n. [after French pélican rose ( P. Sonnerat Voyage à la Nouvelle Guinée (1776) pl. 54)] Obsolete the great white pelican, Pelecanus onocrotalus, in its pink-tinted breeding plumage.Formerly regarded as a separate Asian species, P. roseus.† rose-coloured sea anemone n. Obsolete rare a common pink or red form of the beadlet anemone, Actinia equina.
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1842 Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 9 419 The Florideæ predominate,..the more we approach the equator the more rose-coloured Algæ prevail.
1873 H. C. Chapman Evol. Life 82 The red or rose-colored Algae, though much smaller than the Fucoidæ, surpass them greatly in beauty of coloring and delicacy of form.
rose-coloured cockatoo n. now rare = rose-breasted cockatoo n. at rose-breasted adj. Compounds.
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1833 C. Sturt Two Exped. Southern Austral. I. i. 24 We had likewise procured some of the rose-coloured and grey parrots, mentioned by Mr. Oxley.]
1834 Gentleman's Mag. Jan. 72/2 Some beautiful birds, as the crested pigeon and rose-coloured cockatoo, were seen.
1860 J. H. Lewis Stuart's Journey Interior Austral. 16 Stuart..came upon a large gum creek... The rose-colored cockatoo was seen here.
1982 A. Pellowski First Farm in Valley 133 He tucked the rose-colored cockatoo into one of the cages.
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1837 W. Macgillivray Hist. Brit. Birds I. 613 The Rose-coloured Cow-bird (Turdus roseus Linn.) is about the size of the Spotted Starling.
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1796 G. Shaw Vivarium Naturæ, or Naturalist’s Misc. VII. pl. 238 The Rose-coloured Flounder.
1838 J. Wilson Introd. Nat. Hist. Fishes 219/2 The rose-coloured flounder of Shaw presents an instance of the duplication of the paler side.
rose-coloured ouzel n. now rare = rose-coloured starling n.
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > subfamily Turdinae > [noun] > unspecified and miscellaneous > rose ouzel
rose-coloured ouzel1678
rose ouzel1678
rose pastor1837
rose starling1854
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > larger song birds > [noun] > family Sturnidae > genus Sturnus > sturnus roseus
rose-coloured ouzel1678
pastor1837
shepherd-bird1869
1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. ii. xviii. 194 The Rose or Carnation-coloured Ouzel of Aldrov[andus]... This bird our Fowlers call, the Sea-Starling.
1768 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (new ed.) I. 231 The rose-colored ouzel.., a foreign bird, has been shot at Norwood near London.
1832 Hist. Berwickshire Naturalists' Club 1 No. 1. 4 It was mentioned that a male bird of the rose-coloured ouzel (Pastor roseus) had been shot at West Ord.
1900 Trans. Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club 1898–99 203 Rose-coloured Ouzel or Pastor.
rose-coloured pastor n. now rare = rose-coloured starling n.
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1825 P. J. Selby Illustr. Brit. Ornithol.: Pt. 1st 94 The Rose-coloured Pastor, the Rose-coloured Ouzel..of different ornithologists.
1884 H. B. Tristram Fauna & Flora Palestine 73 The Rose-coloured Pastor is well known to the natives as the Locust Bird, from its habit of preying on that pest.
1906 Westm. Gaz. 19 May 4/2 Among the rarer birds, the rose-coloured pastor used frequently to visit this isolated spot in the springtime.
1978 E. Hardy Guide Birds Scotl. vi. 74 In August and September 1972..a rose-coloured pastor visited Palnackie south of Dalbeattie.
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1785 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds III. ii. 579 Rose-coloured Pelican, the plumage wholly of a rose-colour.
1883 E. W. Oates Handbk. Birds Brit. Burmah II. 238 This latter name [sc. P. roseus] was founded by Gmelin on Latham's ‘Rose-coloured Pelican’... The White Pelican during the breeding-season is of a beautiful rose-colour throughout.
1898 W. R. Ogilive-Grant in R. B. Sharpe & W. R. Ogilive-Grant Catal. Birds Brit. Mus. XXVI. 466 Pelecanus roseus... Rose-coloured Pelican.
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1813 W. Bingley Animal Biogr. (ed. 4) III. 425 The Rose-coloured Sea Anemone. On this species the Abbé Dicquemaire made several experiments, to ascertain its powers of production.
rose-coloured spoonbill n. now historical the roseate spoonbill, Ajaia ajaja.
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1809 W. Bullock Compan. Liverpool Mus. (ed. 7) 38 (heading) Rose-coloured spoonbill.
1870 P. Gillmore tr. G. L. Figuier Reptiles & Birds (1892) 325 The Rose-coloured spoonbill, a native of South America, the plumage of which possesses the most beautiful tints.
2004 G. Helferich Humboldt's Cosmos v. 117 A low island called Isla de Aves (Bird Island),..densely packed with flamingos, rose-colored spoonbills, herons, and moorhens.
rose-coloured starling n. a migratory starling, Sturnus roseus, which is pale pink in colour with a black crested head, neck, wings, and tail, breeding from eastern Europe to central Asia; also called rosy pastor.
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1821 T. Bewick Suppl. Hist. Brit. Birds I. 12 The Rose Coloured Starling.
1894 A. Newton et al. Dict. Birds: Pt. III 498 The Rose-coloured Starling hardly ever occurs in Africa, but is a well-known bird in India.
1940 H. F. Witherby et al. Handbk. Brit. Birds I. 45 The Rose-coloured Starling—Pastor roseus.
1999 Birdwatch Apr. 62/5 At least four Rose-coloured Starlings were noted in Al Khobar.
rose-coloured thrush n. rare = rose-coloured starling n.
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1785 T. Pennant Arctic Zool. II. 344 Rose-colored Thrush... Rose-colored Ouzel... Th[rush] With a crested head..: breast, belly, back, and lesser coverts of the wings, of a fine rose-color.
1906 R. B. Sharpe in Hist. Coll. Nat. Hist. Dept. (Brit. Mus.) II. 220 Turdus roseus, Rose-coloured Thrush (female), taken in the Orkneys, 1818.
rose-coloured vervain n. now rare a pink-flowered North American plant, Glandularia canadensis (closely related to and formerly included in the genus Verbena).
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1822 S. Clarke Hortus Anglicus II. 136 V. Aubletia. Rose-coloured Vervain... Flowers pink or crimson, numerous, in stalked heads.
1846 A. T. Thomson tr. E. Salverte Occult Sci. I. 31 Many mucilaginous vegetables produce the same phenomenon in different degrees; and among others,..the rose coloured Vervain, Verbena Aubletia.
2004 D. W. Adams Restoring Amer. Gardens ix. 232/2 Verbena canadensis. Rose-colored vervain.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1526