colored

colored — adjective

1. not black-and-white; having one or more colors rather than being only in shades

1.adjectiveA2
Definition

not black-and-white; having one or more colors rather than being only in shades of gray, white, or black — used mainly for pictures, images, lights, paper, and objects whose color is a visual feature.

Example

Hana decorated her room with colored fairy lights for the party.

colored + noun for decorative objects

The children used colored paper to make flowers for their teacher.

colored paper — craft material

Common collocations
  • colored lights
  • colored paper
  • colored pencils
  • colored photographs
  • colored glass
Synonyms
  • colorful

    suggests many bright colors or a lot of variety, not just the presence of color

  • bright

    focuses on the intensity of the color rather than the fact that something is not black-and-white

  • vivid

    strong, clear, and intense colors; more emphatic than colored

Antonyms
  • black-and-white

    only shades of gray, white, and black — the opposite of colored for images

  • colorless

    having no color at all, not just lacking variety

Grammar Patterns

colored + noun

Usage Note

This is the US English spelling; the British spelling is coloured. Do NOT use this word to describe a person's skin or racial background — that usage is now considered offensive. For things with many bright colors, colorful is the more natural choice in modern English.

Common Mistakes

The garden was full of colored flowers.
The garden was full of colorful flowers.
colorful describes many bright colors together, while colored simply means not black-and-white.
She colored a picture with coloreds.
She colored a picture with colored pencils.
colored is an adjective, not a noun for art supplies.

colored — suffix

Word family

  • color
    nounA1
  • color
    verbA2
  • colorful
    adjectiveA2
  • colorless
    adjectiveB2
  • coloring
    nounB1
  • colorfully
    adverbB2
  • colorant
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Colored simply means something has a color or colors rather than being black-and-white or colorless. Colorful goes further — it suggests many bright, varied colors arranged together, like a colorful garden or a colorful painting. Bright focuses on the intensity of the color rather than the presence of color itself; a bright red is intense, but a colored wall could be any shade. Vivid describes colors that are strong, clear, and striking to the eye — a vivid blue sky is more intense than a simply colored one. Meanwhile, colorless is the direct opposite: entirely without hue or pigmentation. Choose colored for the basic fact that color is present, colorful for abundance and variety, bright for intensity, and vivid for striking clarity.

colorful ↗bright ↗vivid ↗colorless

Common collocations

Nouns

  • colored paper
  • colored pencil
  • colored glass
  • colored lights
  • colored photograph

Adverbs

  • brightly colored
  • richly colored
  • beautifully colored

Phrases

  • all colored
  • half colored

Prepositions

  • colored in
  • colored with

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Colored comes from the noun color (Middle English colur, from Old French coulour, from Latin color meaning 'a tint or hue') plus the adjective-forming suffix -ed, which turns a noun into an adjective meaning 'having [noun].' The spelling colored is standard in American English, while coloured is the traditional British form. The word has been used since the 14th century to describe objects that have a color, and later extended into specialized and figurative uses.