ENGLISH
REFERENCE

colored

adj.
C2 Proficiency US //ˈkəɫɝd// UK //kˈʌləd// col·ored Archaic General-service Vulgar

adj. having a specific color or being influenced by a particular feeling. It can also describe a person's skin color, but this is an old-fashioned word that many people now find very offensive.

adj. imbued with a specific hue or influenced by a particular bias or emotion. When used to describe racial identity, the term is highly sensitive, historically loaded, and widely considered offensive in modern contexts.


SIMPLE

The artist used brightly colored paint for the mural.

CONTEXTUAL

His memories of the childhood summer were colored by a sense of deep nostalgia and loss.

COMPLEX

The witness gave a colored account of the events, clearly favoring the defendant's version of the story due to their long-standing personal friendship.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Origin

From color + -ed.

Usage

As an adjective describing bias, it is often followed by the preposition 'by'. When used as a racial descriptor, it is dated and carries a high risk of causing offense.

Pitfall

a colored of bluea shade of blueLearners sometimes use 'colored' as a noun for 'color' or 'shade', but it is primarily an adjective.

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