of color
"of-color" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“of color” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as an adjective - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Nonwhite; of a race other than white, for example black.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | of color |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “of color” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for of color is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for of color, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: Attested since the late 18th century, initially in reference to a category of mixed-race (partially black, partially white) people in the Americas; compare French de couleur (attested since at least 1779 in gens de couleur), Spanish de color. The phrase con… The correct English form is of color, spelled O-F- -C-O-L-O-R.
Definition
- 1Nonwhite; of a race other than white, for example black.
- 2Belonging to a category of people with mixed black and white ancestry in the Americas in the 18th and early 19th centuries.
Etymology
Attested since the late 18th century, initially in reference to a category of mixed-race (partially black, partially white) people in the Americas; compare French de couleur (attested since at least 1779 in gens de couleur), Spanish de color. The phrase continued in occasional use throughout the 1800s and 1900s and was used by e.g. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963, around which time its modern meaning began to take shape. Its use by black activists picked up from the 1970s (e.g. black women who used "women of color" at the National Women's Conference in 1977) onward, reaching wide circulation by the 1990s.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “of color”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-F- -C-O-L-O-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.