colorism
noun
colorism is spelled C-O-L-O-R-I-S-M: 8 letters. It appears about once in every 10 million words in written English, the 97,057th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, colorism means “Prejudice or bias against persons on the basis of their skin color or complexion, often among persons of the same racial identification” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of colorism is colorisms.
How many letters and syllables are in colorism?
| Letters | 8: C-O-L-O-R-I-S-M |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 10 million words; the 97,057th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is colorism?
Colorism appears about once in every 10 million words in written English, the 97,057th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Forms of colorism
- colorisms plural
- colourism UK
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does colorism mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
USPrejudice or bias against persons on the basis of their skin color or complexion, often among persons of the same racial identification.
- 2
A style of painting characterised by the use of intense color.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Colorism in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense prejudice or bias against persons on the basis of their skin color or complexion:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | colorisme |
| German | Kolorismus |
| Portuguese | colorismo |
| Spanish | pigmentocracia, colorismo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does colorism come from?
From color + -ism.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).