Color or colored?
colored is the simple past and past participle of color. color is also a noun: “The spectral composition of visible light”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) color is about 5.2 times as common as colored.
What is the difference between color and colored?
| color | colored | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, adjective, verb | adjective, noun, verb |
| Meaning | To give something color USTo cause (a pipe, especially a meerschaum) to take on a brown or black color, by smoking The spectral composition of visible light A particular set of visible spectral compositions, perceived or named as a class | simple past and past participle of color USHaving a color USHaving a particular color or kind of color USA colored article of clothing |
| Example | Humans and birds can perceive color | Wash colored items separately from whites and darks to prevent the colors from bleeding |
| Forms | colors, coloring, colored | none |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkʌl.ə/ /ˈkʌl.ə(ɹ)/ [ˈkʰʌl.ə(ɹ)] | /ˈkʌləd/ /ˈkʌləɹd/ /ˈkɐləd/ |
| In writing | 81 times per million words | 15 times per million words |
Sources: color and colored in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of color and colored
color
- 1
The spectral composition of visible light
Humans and birds can perceive color
- 2
USConveying color, as opposed to shades of gray
Color television and movies were considered a great improvement over black and white
- 3
USTo give something color
We could color the walls red
- 4
A particular set of visible spectral compositions, perceived or named as a class
Most languages have names for the colors black, white, red, and green
- 5
USTo cause (a pipe, especially a meerschaum) to take on a brown or black color, by smoking
- 6
Hue as opposed to achromatic colors (black, white and grays)
The accident victim's face was white, drained of all color
- 7
USTo apply colors to the areas within the boundaries of a line drawing using colored markers or crayons
My kindergartener loves to color
- 8
These hues as used in color television or films, color photographs, etc (as opposed to the shades of grey used in black-and-white television)
This film is broadcast in color
colored
- 1
USHaving a color
Wash colored items separately from whites and darks to prevent the colors from bleeding
- 2
USA colored article of clothing
- 3
Alternative letter-case form of colored (“non-white, or mixed race”)
- 4
USHaving a particular color or kind of color
The room was red, with a dark-colored rug
- 5
USA person having ancestry from more than one of the racial groups of Southern Africa (black, white, and Asian); a colored person
- 6
USHaving prominent colors; colorful
The singer wore a colored shirt
- 7
USdatedoffensiveA colored (nonwhite) person
- 8
USBiased; pervasively (but potentially subtly) influenced in a particular way
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, color or colored?
color appears 81 times per million words; colored 15 times per million words.
color 81 times per million wordscolored 15 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).