colored

B2 · Upper Intermediate Academic

adj. influenced by a particular feeling, opinion, or bias.

adj. 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.”

C2 · Proficiency American English · Archaic

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

adj. 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.”

B1 · Intermediate Plural noun American English

n. clothes that are not white and should be washed together.

n. 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.”