This is a list of color names as well as color descriptions that relate to specific objects. I’ve tried to list the more familiar or clichéd descriptions words for colors first and then the fresher ways to describe colors later. Characters may still use clichés when they are speaking — sometimes, that’s just realistic dialogue.
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Some of these suggest other qualities in addition to color, such as texture. Please note that many of these are not appropriate to use in describing a person’s skin color.
Just adding a more specific word can make a description more striking. For example, “white as paper” is okay. “White as copier paper” is more evocative, and might be perfect if you’re writing about someone in an office setting. “Black as a moonless night” stirs up a little more mystery than “black as night.”
Some of the more common color descriptions and phrases are actually outdated and/or a bit weird. We say “pitch black,” but few of us refer to “pitch” in that way otherwise (it’s a kind of tar.) We say “powder blue,” but what light blue powder is that referring to? “Brown as a berry” makes no sense at all.
Color descriptions can even evoke the worldview of a character in a fantasy, science fiction, or historical novel, such as “white as the robe of a priestess” or “black as a model T Ford.” A few of the descriptions on the list are pretty specific to the United States.
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In some cases, the object being evoked may come in different colors, and that’s okay as long as you’re referring to the most standard color.
I may add more to this later! Pin or bookmark the page so you’ve got it when you need it!
BLACK
raven
ebony
obsidian
onyx
sable
black as coal
pitch black
jet black
black as tar
black as night
black as a moonless night
black as ink
black as soot
crow-black
black as a beetle
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black as crude oil
black as basalt
black as a tuxedo jacket
black as a man’s dress shoes
black as a Sharpie
black as caviar
black as Kalamata olives
black as peppercorns
black as wrought iron
black as a nun’s habit
black as a model T Ford
black as a car tire
black as outer space
black as an abyss
black as a bat
black as mascara
black as a cannonball
black as a vinyl record
black as the screen of a computer turned off
black as the pupil of an eye
black as the movie screen after the final scene
WHITE
alabaster
ivory
white as snow
white as a sheet
white as a ghost
lily-white
milky white
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creamy white
pearl white
bone white
white as porcelain
dove white
white as sugar
white as paper
white as copier paper
eggshell white
white as a hard-boiled egg
white as marble
white as paste
white as school glue
zinc white
white as salt
white as talcum powder
white as lily of the valley
cauliflower white
white as cotton
white as toilet paper
white like mayonnaise
white as cottage cheese
white as a powdered donut
white like birch bark
white as a flag of surrender
white as Crisco
white as a lab coat
white as a lab rat
white as bleached gym socks
white as a dress shirt
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white as Styrofoam
white as dandelion fluff
white as a skull
white as a golf ball
white as Dairy Queen ice cream
white as a polar bear
RED
scarlet
crimson
vermillion
carmine
garnet
burgundy
blood red
rose red
beet red
ruby red
wine red
red as a lobster
cherry red
cranberry
tomato red
red as a strawberry
raspberry red
watermelon red
red as a pomegranate
lipstick red
brick red
red as raw meat
red as a stop sign
stoplight red
red as a ladybug
fire truck red
cardinal red
red as a poppy
red as Twizzlers
red as a Coke can
red as a Solo cup
red as a Target shopping cart
red as the Netflix logo
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red as a London telephone box
sriracha sauce red
cayenne pepper red
carnelian red
geranium red
red as Mars
BLUE
azure
cerulean
aqua
cobalt
turquoise
navy
royal blue
cadet blue
Prussian blue
sky-blue
baby blue
cornflower blue
periwinkle blue
robin’s-egg blue
sapphire blue
aquamarine
blue as lapis lazuli
Wedgwood blue
blue as the ocean
glacial blue
lake blue
swimming-pool blue
morning-glory blue
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hyacinth blue
hydrangea blue
blue like faded jeans
blue as Curaçao
blue like Neptune
blue like cheese mold
blue as a morpho butterfly
Cookie Monster blue
YELLOW
flax
saffron
parchment
mustard
butter yellow
lemon yellow
canary yellow
sunshine yellow
yellow as a banana
daffodil yellow
yellow as forsythia
yellow as kernels of corn
sunflower yellow
taxicab yellow
yellow like a caution sign
yellow as a #2 pencil
yellow as a highlighter pen
egg-yolk yellow
yellow like urine
yellow as Kraft mac and cheese
yellow as a duckling
yellow as a rubber duckie
yellow as gingko leaves in autumn
yellow as a beak
tennis-ball yellow
golden as wheat
golden as a lion
golden as amber
golden as citrine
golden like sand
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GREEN
viridian
emerald
jade
mint
sage
olive
avocado
celadon
green as grass
lime green
pea green
bottle green
peridot green
leaf green
moss green
ivy green
spinach green
algae green
celery green
pistachio green
dill-pickle green
green as a shamrock
green as edamame
wasabi green
green as watermelon rind
green as a kiwi fruit
green as a grasshopper
absinthe green
green like oxidized copper
green as malachite
green as a golf course
PINK
salmon
fuchsia
hot pink
shocking pink
shell pink
flamingo pink
bubble gum pink
pink as a tongue
pink as a rabbit’s nose
pink as cherry blossoms
cameo pink
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pink like rosé wine
pink like strawberry ice cream
cotton candy pink
pink as a piglet
ballet-slipper pink
Pepto-Bismol pink
pink as a dragonfruit
PURPLE
violet
plum
mauve
maroon
amethyst
eggplant
lilac
lavender
grape
wisteria purple
pansy purple
ORANGE
tangerine
apricot
peach
coral
terra cotta
pumpkin orange
orange as a carrot
sunset orange
orange as a yam
tiger lily orange
orange as a basketball
orange as Cheetos (or Cheez-Its)
Creamsicle orange
orange as Tang
orange as a traffic cone
BROWN
sepia
sienna
khaki
tan
coffee
mocha
espresso
chocolate
bronze
camel
walnut
topaz
caramel
cinnamon
chestnut
hazel
raw umber
nut brown
dirt brown
tea-brown
cocoa brown
mink brown
otter brown
brown as polished mahogany
brown as whole wheat toast
brown like peanut butter
brown like maple syrup
brown as molasses
brown like corrugated cardboard
brown as a UPS uniform
brown as saddle leather
brown like dead oak leaves
brown as a sparrow
brown as bark
brown as an old penny
brown as a coconut husk
GRAY
charcoal
carbon
pewter
graphite
flint gray
ash gray
smoke gray
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slate gray
storm gray
steel gray
gray as mist
battleship gray
lead gray
dove gray
gray as concrete
pigeon gray
gray as an elephant
gray as a dolphin
sharkskin gray
gray like Spanish moss
pelican gray
pussy willow gray
gray as a dust bunny
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I hope this was helpful for you! And if it was, you might also enjoy my book Master Lists for Writers. Check it out!
Happy writing!
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I am in my seventies now but when I was growing up and we bought new clothes many had the colour description as “powder blue”. I remember buying a new jigger coat in powder blue. Jigger coat being a short loose coat so both these sayings will probably be written by someone older.
Hi Joan! Yeah, I do associate “powder blue” with decades past. I never heard of a “jigger coat” before — I love learning stuff like that!
Thank you so much for these. I printed them all out and I have them with your book “Master Lists for Writers”; I just got this book last week. LOVE IT and thank you so much for the book also. Take care!
Aw Pat, thank you so much! I think you left a nice review! Was that you? If so, DOUBLE THANK YOU for taking the time to do that — it means a lot to a writer! Take care!
This is a wonderful list. I’ve always loved cerulean – not just as a color, but as a word – because it feels more evocative than sky blue. I’ve also liked ice blue which, I suppose, is derivative of your glacial blue. Oh, and gun-metal grey. Congrats, you now have my mind spinning like the Apple Wheel of Death.
It took me a minute to realize what the Apple Wheel of Death was, hahaha! Even though, sadly, I am intimately familiar with it. 🙂 Thanks for reading and commenting, Pete!
Oops, I meant gunmetal-grey.
I love this list! I know with the color red, I enjoy the words scarlet and blood red when reading. Actually, one of my favorite books is “Blood Orange” by Drusilla Campbell. The title caught my attention. I’ve never heard “grey as a dust bunny.” I need to bookmark this and thanks for sharing.
Yeah, I made a bunch of them up! I love “blood orange”… both as a phrase and as a fruit. 🙂 Thanks for the kind words!
Great helpful post as usual, thank you so much for posting and all your help.
Aw you’re welcome Adele, thank you for the nice comment!
Great list! I always like “refrigerator white.” I don’t know why, but white refrigerators always seem like the whitest of whites to me. *lol*
Haha! Never heard that — I love “refrigerator white”!
Thank you again. I really needed this!
Great list. “Grey as a dust bunny.” 😀 There was a time I had searched online and found swatches of various colors before deciding to check Mr. Thesaurus. 😀
Haha, thanks Raine! I had fun coming up with some of these. 🙂
Great list! I was hoping to find ideas for describing paint colors of a home. Any ideas? Thank you.
Hi Sue! I’d check out the Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams websites 🙂
Hi Bryn,
Great list! Realized I have the book on my Kindle already.
Cheers! 🙂
Ha! That’s so awesome. Thank you so much!
Wow awesome names! Do you mind if I import them to our ultimate list of color names? I would add you as a contributor: https://github.com/meodai/color-names
Hey Bryn,
Thank you so much for this list (also, Cookie Monster Blue?!!)
All of your posts have helped me so much.
Cheers!! 😛