adj · 11 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/kɹəˈmæt.ɪk/
Received-Pronunciation:/kɹəʊˈmæt.ɪk/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/kɹəˈmæt.ɪk/
General-American:/kɹoʊˈmæt.ɪk/
General-American:[-ɾɪk]
rhymes with -ætɪk
1
adj
Meaning 1
Uses relating to colour
Characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: nonchromatic
2
adj
Meaning 2
Uses relating to colour
Brightly coloured; colourful, vivid.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: comparable, not-comparable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
adj
Meaning 4
Uses relating to colour
Relating to colorings of graphs.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable, usually
Topics: graph-theory, mathematics, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
adj
Meaning 5
One of three types of tetrachord (the others being the diatonic and enharmonic), with an interval between half and four-fifths of the total interval of a tetrachord.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: historical, not-comparable, usually
Qualifier: Ancient Greece
Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
adj
Meaning 6
Relating to or using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage of music is written.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable, usually
Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: achromatic, diatonic
7
adj
Meaning 7
Moving in semitones.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable, usually
Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
8
adj
Meaning 8
Relating to chromatin (a complex of DNA, RNA, and proteins within the cell nucleus out of which chromosomes condense during cell division).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
Topics: biology, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
9
adjective
Meaning 9
being or having or characterized by hue
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: achromatic
10
adjective
Meaning 10
based on a scale consisting of 12 semitones
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
a chromatic scale
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: diatonic
11
adjective
Meaning 11
able to refract light without spectral color separation
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
chromatic lens
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Borrowed from French chromatique (“chromatic”) or directly from its etymon Latin chrōmaticus, from Ancient Greek χρωματικός (khrōmatikós, “relating to colour; one of the three types of tetrachord in Greek music”), from χρῶμα (khrôma, “colour; pigment; chromatic scale in music; music”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gher- (“to grind; to rub; to stroke; to remove”), perhaps in the sense of the grinding of pigments) + -τῐκός (-tĭkós, suffix forming adjectives); analysable as chroma + -tic.
From chromatin + -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives from nouns).
Across languages
Translations
42 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Armenian:
գունային
(gunayin)
— characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue
Bulgarian:
хроматичен
(hromatičen)
— characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue
Bulgarian:
цветен
(cveten)
— characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue
Catalan:
cromàtic
— characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue
Czech:
chromatický
— characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue
Esperanto:
kromata
— characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue
Icelandic:
lit-
— characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue
Icelandic:
lita-
— characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue
Ido:
kromatika
— characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue
Indonesian:
kromatis
— characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue
Irish:
crómatach
— characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue
Irish:
glédhathach
— characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue
Italian:
cromatico
— characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue
Kazakh:
хроматикалық
(xromatikalyq)
— characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue
Kazakh:
хроматтық
(xromattyq)
— characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue
Kazakh:
түсті
(tüstı)
— characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue
Polish:
chromatyczny
— characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue
Portuguese:
cromático
— characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue
Romanian:
cromatic
— characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue
Russian:
хромати́ческий
(xromatíčeskij)
— characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue
Russian:
цветно́й
(cvetnój)
— characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue
Spanish:
cromático
— characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue
Swedish:
kromatisk
— characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue
Tagalog:
kulayin
— characterized or caused by, or relating to, colour or hue
Catalan:
cromàtic
— relating to or using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage of music is written
Esperanto:
kromata
— relating to or using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage of music is written
French:
chromatique
— relating to or using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage of music is written
German:
chromatisch
— relating to or using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage of music is written
Icelandic:
krómatískur
— relating to or using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage of music is written
Ido:
kromatika
— relating to or using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage of music is written
Indonesian:
kromatis
— relating to or using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage of music is written
Irish:
crómatach
— relating to or using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage of music is written
Irish:
leath-thonach
— relating to or using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage of music is written
Italian:
cromatico
— relating to or using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage of music is written
Japanese:
クロマチックな
(kuromachikku na)
— relating to or using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage of music is written
Norwegian Bokmål:
kromatisk
— relating to or using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage of music is written
Norwegian Nynorsk:
kromatisk
— relating to or using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage of music is written
Polish:
chromatyczny
— relating to or using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage of music is written
Romanian:
cromatic
— relating to or using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage of music is written
Russian:
хромати́ческий
(xromatíčeskij)
— relating to or using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage of music is written
Spanish:
cromático
— relating to or using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage of music is written
Swedish:
kromatisk
— relating to or using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage of music is written
