Dictionary

colourless en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈkʌlə(ɹ).ləs/ (UK)
• (US) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *-ōs Proto-Indo-European *ḱélōs Proto-Italic *kelōs Old Latin colōs Latin color Old French color Anglo-Norman colurbor. Middle English colour English colour Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁- Proto-Indo-European *lewHs-der. Proto-Germanic *leusaną Proto-Germanic *lausaz Proto-Germanic *-lausaz Proto-West Germanic *-laus Old English -lēas Middle English -les English -less English colourless From colour + -less.

Meanings

1. (UK) Having little or no colour.
   • The wide prospect up stream was grey and lowering, the long still-distant waterfront of Dundee, and the Fife shore were alike colourless, and there was ample evidence of rough weather not far ahead. 1947 January and February, O. S. Nock, “"The Aberdonian" in Wartime”, in Railway Magazine, page 7:
   • The servant to whom he put this question was a young fellow with chubby cheeks, small, dull eyes, and a round chin, covered with a colorless down. 1867, Ivan Sergheïevitch Turgenef [i.e., Ivan Turgenev], chapter I, in Eugene Schuyler, transl., Fathers and Sons […], New York, N.Y.: Leypoldt and Holt, →OCLC, page 1:
   • Behind him the hills are open, the sun blazes down upon fields so large as to give an unenclosed character to the landscape, the lanes are white, the hedges low and plashed, the atmosphere colourless. 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 14:
2. (UK, of a liquid) Water white.
3. (UK) Lacking in interest or variety.
4. (UK) Neutral in opinion or allegiance; centrist
   • They cannot, of course, assume a colourless position because they cater to the radical rank and file and would be branded renegades. 1926, David Joseph Saposs, Left Wing Unionism: A Study of Radical Policies and Tactics, page 73:

Forms

Deriveds

colourlessness · colourlessly

Synonyms

corny · dull as dishwater · soporific · lackluster · dim · dull · bland · cold · see-through · dull · pedantic · uninteresting · vapid · hueless · hyaline · basic · muddy · plodding · limpid · wooden · dreich · commonplace · transparent · pellucid · moderate · snoozeworthy · prosy · banal · vanilla · uncolorful · plain · colorless · glassy · lackluster · stuffy · blah · longsome · transpicuous · no fun at parties · serene · flat · beat · heavy going · stodgy · crystalline · sad · colourless · straightforward · humdrum · dull · dingy · unholiday · clear · monotonous · bland · lifeless · dull · sober · lucid · drowsy · languid · faint · insipid · leaden · clear · drab · uncool · colourless · vitreous · pedestrian · mindless · prosaic · clear as crystal · mundane · tedious · colourless · weaksauce · boring · waterlike · achromatic · dingy · perspicuous · ho-hum · drab · wan · lame · diaphanous · hyaloid · wan · static

Translations (45)

is litlaus (having no colour) · uk безба́рвний (having no colour) · ast incoloru (having no colour) · kmr bêreng (having no colour) · sv färglös (having no colour) · pl bezbarwny (having no colour) · tr renksiz (having no colour) · gl incoloro (having no colour) · ru бесцве́тный (having no colour) · mi kanokore (having no colour) · fa بیرنگ (having no colour) · yue 無色 /无色 (having no colour) · pt incolor (having no colour) · fr incolore (having no colour) · mk безбоен (having no colour) · hu színtelen (having no colour) · ca incolor (having no colour) · nl kleurloos (having no colour) · el άχρωμος (having no colour) · sk bezfarebný (having no colour) · fi väritön (having no colour) · it incolore (having no colour) · id awawarna (having no colour) · cs bezbarvý (having no colour) · nb fargeløs (having no colour) · uk безко́лірний (having no colour) · mr रंगहीन (having no colour) · ja 無色の (having no colour) · ro incolor (having no colour) · hi रंगहीन (having no colour) · ro fără culoare (having no colour) · nn fargelaus (having no colour) · cmn 無色 /无色 (having no colour) · ckb بێڕەنگ (having no colour) · bg безцве́тен (having no colour) · io senkolora (having no colour) · te రంగులేని (having no colour) · hy անգույն (having no colour) · de farblos (having no colour) · ko 무색의 (having no colour) · da farveløs (having no colour) · es incoloro (having no colour) · gv neughaaoil (having no colour) · eo senkolora (having no colour) · fr sans couleur (having no colour)