Word forms: plural colouredsregional note: in AM, use colored
1. adjective
Something that is coloured a particular colour is that colour.
The illustration shows a cluster of five roses coloured apricot-orange.
...a cheap gold-coloured bracelet.
2. adjective
Something that is coloured is a particular colour or combination of colours, rather than being just white, black, or the colour that it is naturally.
You can often choose between plain white or coloured and patterned scarves.
...brightly-coloured silks laid out on market stalls.
3. adjective [usually ADJECTIVE noun]
A coloured person belongs to a race of people with dark skins.
[offensive, old-fashioned]
4. countable noun
People whose skin is dark are sometimes referred to as coloureds.
[offensive, old-fashioned]
coloured in British English
or US colored (ˈkʌləd)
adjective
1.
possessing colour
2.
having a strong element of fiction or fantasy; distorted (esp in the phrase highly coloured)
3. (sometimes capital) old-fashioned, offensive
designating or relating to a person who is or people who are not White
nounWord forms: pluralcoloureds, colouredWord forms: UScoloreds or colored
4. (sometimes capital) old-fashioned, offensive
an individual who is not White
▶ USAGE The use of coloured to describe people who are not White is likely to cause offence. If you need to referto people's race it may be better to specify it or else to use a phrase such as 'aperson from a minority ethnic group'
Coloured in British English
(ˈkʌləd)
nounWord forms: pluralColoureds or Coloured South Africa
1.
a.
a person of mixed ethnic parentage or descent
b.
a person of mixed ethnic descent speaking English or Afrikaans as their mother tongue
adjective
2.
designating or relating to a Coloured person or Coloured people
In other languages
coloured
British English: coloured ADJECTIVE
Something that is coloured a particular colour is that colour.
The illustration shows a cluster of five roses coloured apricot-orange.
American English: colored
Brazilian Portuguese: colorido
Chinese: 着了色的
European Spanish: de color
French: coloré
German: farbig
Italian: colorato
Japanese: ～色の
Korean: ~한 색
European Portuguese: colorido
Latin American Spanish: de color
All related terms of 'coloured'
chromatic colour
an attribute of things that results from the light they reflect , transmit , or emit in so far as this light causes a visual sensation that depends on its wavelengths
colored
having color
colour
The colour of something is the appearance that it has as a result of the way in which it reflects light. Red, blue, and green are colours.
ash-coloured
silver-grey in colour
Cape Coloured
(formerly, in South Africa) a racial classification under apartheid for people of mixed ethnic origin
high-coloured
(of the complexion ) deep red or purplish; florid
many-coloured
having many colours
rose-coloured
of the colour rose ; rosy
rust-coloured
a reddish-brown oxide coating formed on iron or steel by the action of oxygen and moisture
self-coloured
having only a single and uniform colour
tow-coloured
pale yellow ; flaxen
wine-coloured
of a dark red colour, sometimes with a purplish tinge
coffee-coloured
having the colour of coffee ; dark brown ; light brown
copper-coloured
of a reddish-brown colour
cream-coloured
cream in colour
flame-coloured
having a strong reddish-orange colour
flesh-coloured
Something that is flesh-coloured is yellowish pink in colour.
honey-coloured
having the colour of honey
light-coloured
having a light colour
parti-coloured
having different colours in different parts; variegated
pastel-coloured
pale-coloured; in a shade such as pink or pale blue
slate-coloured
like slate in colour
straw-coloured
If you describe something, especially hair , as straw-coloured , you mean that it is pale yellow.
chocolate-coloured
dark brown
mustard-coloured
of a brownish-yellow colour
saffron-coloured
an Old World crocus , Crocus sativus, having purple or white flowers with orange stigmas
colour in
If you colour in a drawing , you give it different colours using crayons or paints .
multicoloured
A multicoloured object has many different colours.
see through rose-coloured glasses
to view in an excessively optimistic light
rose-coloured spectacles rose-coloured glasses
If you look at a person or situation through rose-coloured glasses or rose-tinted glasses , you see only their good points and therefore your view of them is unrealistic . In British English, you can also say that someone is looking through rose-coloured spectacles .
r-colour
an ( r ) quality imparted to certain vowels , usually by retroflexion