Standard Lemma guide

colourless

adj · 6 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.

  • UK: /ˈkʌlə(ɹ).ləs/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Having little or no colour.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dull, dingy, achromatic, colorless, colourless, hueless, bland, dim, faint, lackluster, leaden, muddy, sad, sober, uncolorful, unholiday, wan

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Water white.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: clear, waterlike, clear as crystal, crystalline, diaphanous, glassy, hyaline, hyaloid, limpid, lucid, pellucid, perspicuous, see-through, serene, transparent, transpicuous, vitreous

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Lacking in interest or variety.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: drab, dull, banal, basic, beat, blah, commonplace, bland, boring, cold, colourless, corny, stuffy, dreich, drowsy, dull as dishwater, flat, heavy going, ho-hum, humdrum, insipid, lackluster, lame, languid, lifeless, longsome, monotonous, mundane, no fun at parties, plain, plodding, prosaic, prosy, pedantic, pedestrian, static, straightforward, snoozeworthy, soporific, tedious, uncool, wan, weaksauce, wooden, uninteresting, stodgy, vapid, vanilla

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Neutral in opinion or allegiance; centrist

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK

Topics: government, politics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: moderate

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective

Meaning 5

weak in color; not colorful

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: colorless

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective

Meaning 6

lacking in variety and interest

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a colorless and unimaginative person
  • a colorless description of the parade

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: colorless

Antonyms: colourful

History

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.

Across languages

Translations

45 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: անգույն (anguyn) — having no colour
  • Asturian: incoloru — having no colour
  • Bulgarian: безцве́тен (bezcvéten) — having no colour
  • Catalan: incolor — having no colour
  • Chinese Cantonese: 無色 /无色 (mou4 sik1) — having no colour
  • Chinese Mandarin: 無色 /无色 (wúsè) — having no colour
  • Czech: bezbarvý — having no colour
  • Danish: farveløs — having no colour
  • Dutch: kleurloos — having no colour
  • Esperanto: senkolora — having no colour
  • Finnish: väritön — having no colour
  • French: sans couleur — having no colour
  • French: incolore — having no colour
  • Galician: incoloro — having no colour
  • German: farblos — having no colour
  • Greek: άχρωμος (áchromos) — having no colour
  • Hindi: रंगहीन (raṅghīn) — having no colour
  • Hungarian: színtelen — having no colour
  • Icelandic: litlaus — having no colour
  • Ido: senkolora — having no colour
  • Indonesian: awawarna — having no colour
  • Italian: incolore — having no colour
  • Japanese: 無色の (mushoku no) — having no colour
  • Korean: 무색의 (musaegui) — having no colour
  • Central Kurdish: بێڕەنگ (bêrreng) — having no colour
  • Northern Kurdish: bêreng — having no colour
  • Macedonian: безбоен (bezboen) — having no colour
  • Manx: neughaaoil — having no colour
  • Māori: kanokore — having no colour
  • Marathi: रंगहीन (raṅghīn) — having no colour
  • Norwegian Bokmål: fargeløs — having no colour
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: fargelaus — having no colour
  • Persian: بیرنگ (bi-rang) — having no colour
  • Polish: bezbarwny — having no colour
  • Portuguese: incolor — having no colour
  • Romanian: incolor — having no colour
  • Romanian: fără culoare — having no colour
  • Russian: бесцве́тный (bescvétnyj) — having no colour
  • Slovak: bezfarebný — having no colour
  • Spanish: incoloro — having no colour
  • Swedish: färglös — having no colour
  • Telugu: రంగులేని (raṅgulēni) — having no colour
  • Turkish: renksiz — having no colour
  • Ukrainian: безба́рвний (bezbárvnyj) — having no colour
  • Ukrainian: безко́лірний (bezkólirnyj) — having no colour