COLORFUL

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does colorful mean? 

• COLORFUL (adjective)
  The adjective COLORFUL has 3 senses:

1. having much or varied color

2. striking in variety and interest

3. having color or a certain color; sometimes used in combination

  Familiarity information: COLORFUL used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• COLORFUL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Having much or varied color

Synonyms:

colorful; colourful

Context example:

colorful autumn leaves

Similar:

vibrant (of colors that are bright and striking)

shrill (of colors that are bright and gaudy)

ablaze (resembling flame in brilliance or color)

psychedelic (having the vivid colors and bizarre patterns associated with psychedelic states)

prismatic (exhibiting spectral colors formed by refraction of light through a prism)

fluorescent (brilliantly colored and apparently giving off light)

deep; rich (strong; intense)

changeable; chatoyant; iridescent; shot (varying in color when seen in different lights or from different angles)

bright; brilliant; vivid (having strong or striking color)

Also:

chromatic (being or having or characterized by hue)

Attribute:

color; colour; vividness (interest and variety and intensity)

Antonym:

colorless (weak in color; not colorful)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Striking in variety and interest

Synonyms:

colorful; colourful

Context example:

colorful language

Similar:

brave; braw; gay (brightly colored and showy)

flashy; gaudy; jazzy; showy; sporty ((used especially of clothes) marked by conspicuous display)

many-sided (full of variety or interest)

noisy (attracting attention by showiness or bright colors)

picturesque (strikingly expressive)

Antonym:

colorless (lacking in variety and interest)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Having color or a certain color; sometimes used in combination

Synonyms:

colored; colorful; coloured

Context example:

amber-colored heads of grain

Similar:

polychromatic; polychrome; polychromic (having or exhibiting many colors)

liver; liver-colored (having a reddish-brown color)

metal-colored; metal-coloured; metallic-colored; metallic-coloured (having a metallic color)

monochromatic; monochrome; monochromic; monochromous (having or appearing to have only one color)

calico; motley; multi-color; multi-colored; multi-colour; multi-coloured; multicolor; multicolored; multicolour; multicoloured; painted; particolored; particoloured; piebald; pied; varicolored; varicoloured (having sections or patches colored differently and usually brightly)

neutral-colored; neutral-coloured (having a color that does not attract attention)

olive-colored; olive-coloured (having the color of green olives)

orange-colored; orange-coloured; orange-hued (having the color of ripe oranges)

orange-flowered (having orange flowers)

pale-colored; pale-hued (having a pale color)

pastel-colored (having pale delicate colors)

peach-colored (having the color of a ripe peach)

crimson; flushed; red; red-faced; reddened ((especially of the face) reddened or suffused with or as if with blood from emotion or exertion)

purple-flowered (having purple flowers)

red-flowered (having red flowers)

roan ((used of especially horses) having a brownish coat thickly sprinkled with white or grey)

rose-colored; rosy-colored (having a rose color)

rust-colored (having the brown color of rust)

silver-colored (having the color of polished silver)

straw-colored; straw-coloured (having the color of dry straw)

tawny-colored; tawny-coloured (having a tawny color)

trichromatic; trichrome; tricolor (having or involving three colors)

violet-colored; violet-coloured; violet-flowered (having a violet color)

violet-purple (light violet and dark purple)

indigo (having a color between blue and violet)

bay ((used of animals especially a horse) of a moderate reddish-brown color)

bichrome; bicolor; bicolored; bicolour; bicoloured; dichromatic (having two colors)

black; blackened ((of the face) made black especially as with suffused blood)

blue-flowered (having blue flowers)

brightly-colored; brightly-coloured (having a bright color)

buff-colored; buff-coloured (having a buff color)

chestnut-colored; chestnut-coloured (having the brown color of chestnuts)

chocolate-colored; chocolate-coloured (having the color of dark chocolate)

cinnamon-colored; cinnamon-coloured; cinnamon colored; cinnamon coloured (having the color of cinnamon)

cinnamon-red (red tinged with cinnamon)

dark-colored; dark-coloured; dusky-colored; dusky-coloured (having a dark color)

cream-colored; creamy-colored; creamy-white (having the color of fresh cream)

lead-colored; lead-coloured (having the color of lead)

honey-colored; honey-coloured (having the color of honey)

gold-colored; gold-coloured (having the color of gold)

ginger; gingery ((used especially of hair or fur) having a bright orange-brown color)

garnet-colored; garnet-coloured (having the color of garnet)

flesh-colored; flesh-coloured (having a bright red or pinkish color)

flame-colored; flame-coloured (having the brilliant orange-red color of flames)

fawn-colored; fawn-coloured (having the color of a fawn)

dun-colored; dun-coloured (having a dun color)

Attribute:

color; coloring; colour; colouring (a visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect)

 Context examples 

Until recently, the colorful bird had not been seen in Western Australia for more than 100 years.

(Aboriginal Rangers Find Evidence of One of Australia’s Rarest Birds, VOA)

This image, taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows the colorful "last hurrah" of a star like our sun.

(Hubble Views a Colorful Demise of a Sun-like Star, NASA)

For colorful, graceful sea fans swaying on coral reefs in the waters around Puerto Rico, copper is an emerging threat in an era of warming oceans.

(Sea fan corals face new threat in warming ocean: copper, National Science Foundation)

To hear Barillo sing a love passage with the voice of an angel, and to hear Tetralani reply like another angel, and to hear it all accompanied by a perfect orgy of glowing and colorful music—is ravishing, most ravishing.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)