# colored

/ˈkəɫɝd/ (US) · /kˈʌləd/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/colored
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. having color

adjective · CEFR A2 · American English

having a color or being colorful rather than black and white.

For teachers: possessing a specific hue or variety of hues; often used in contrast to monochrome or transparent states.

- The children used colored pencils to draw a bright rainbow.
- The photographer preferred colored filters to enhance the natural warmth of the desert landscape during the golden hour.

### 2. influenced or biased

adjective · CEFR B2 · Academic

influenced by a particular feeling, opinion, or bias.

For teachers: distorted or influenced by a particular prejudice, emotion, or perspective; often used to describe reports or memories.

- His memory of the event was colored by his anger at the time.
- The witness's testimony was clearly colored by her long-standing professional rivalry with the defendant.

### 3. racial descriptor (offensive)

adjective · CEFR C2 · American English · Archaic

an old word for people who are not white; today, this is considered very offensive in many places.

For teachers: a racial descriptor for non-white individuals, particularly those of African descent. In modern American and British contexts, this term is considered highly offensive and derogatory.

- The museum displayed signs from the 1950s that showed where colored people were allowed to sit.
- The historian analyzed the segregationist policies that mandated separate facilities for white and colored citizens during the Jim Crow era.

Usage: In modern English, this term is almost exclusively found in historical texts or used as a slur.

Teaching tip: Learners must avoid using this term to describe people in modern contexts as it is deeply offensive; 'people of color' is the modern, respectful alternative in the US.

### 6. laundry items

noun · CEFR B1 · American English

clothes that are not white and should be washed together.

For teachers: items of laundry that are not white and may bleed dye if washed at high temperatures.

- Make sure you separate the whites from the coloreds before starting the laundry.
- The instruction manual suggests washing coloreds in cold water to prevent the fabric from fading over time.

## Examples

- The artist used brightly colored paint for the mural.
- His memories of the childhood summer were colored by a sense of deep nostalgia and loss.
- 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.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.