Synonyms and antonyms of Words used to describe skin colour in British Thesaurus

a high colour ()

someone who has a high colour has a rather pink or red face

albino (noun)

a person or animal with very pale skin, white hair or fur, and pink eyes caused by a medical condition that they were born with

(as) white as a sheet ()

extremely pale

bloodless (adjective)

a bloodless face or skin is very pale

bronzed (adjective)

someone who is bronzed has attractive brown skin because they have spent a lot of time in the sun

brown (adjective)

with skin that is naturally brown or has been made brown by the sun

colored ()

the American spelling of coloured

colour (noun)

the colour of someone’s skin as a sign of their race

coloured (adjective)

offensive someone who is coloured is a black person. Older white people sometimes use this word thinking it is polite, but black people consider it offensive.

Coloured (adjective)

South African a coloured person has a mixture of people from different races in their family background

colouring (noun)

the colour of someone’s hair, skin, and eyes

complected (adjective)

American complexioned

complexioned (adjective)

someone who is dark or fair complexioned has dark or light skin

dark (adjective)

if a white person is described as being dark, they have brown or black hair and sometimes skin that is not light in colour

dusky (adjective)

literary with dark skin. This word is now considered offensive.

fair (adjective)

someone who is fair has light hair and pale skin

florid (adjective)

a florid face is red

green (adjective)

if someone looks green, their face is pale and they look ill

grey (adjective)

if someone’s face is grey, they look pale, because they are ill, weak, or shocked

jaundiced (adjective)

looking ill and slightly yellow in colour, especially because of illness

olive (adjective)

olive skin is yellowish brown in colour

pallid (adjective)

very pale in a way that does not look natural or good

pallor (noun)

the very pale colour that your skin has when you are ill or worried

pasty (adjective)

a pasty face or pasty skin looks pale and not very healthy

peaches-and-cream (adjective)

peaches-and-cream skin is smooth, pale, and slightly pink

pigmentation (noun)

formal the natural colour of something, for example someone’s skin

rosy (adjective)

pink and looking healthy

rubicund (adjective)

literary having a red face

ruddy (adjective)

literary red and looking healthy

sallow (adjective)

sallow skin is a pale yellow colour and does not look healthy

swarthy (adjective)

mainly literary someone who is swarthy has dark skin

tanned (adjective)

British someone who is tanned has darker skin than before because of spending time in the sun

wheatish (adjective)

Indian English wheatish skin is light brown in colour

white (adjective)

very pale in the face because you are frightened, angry, or ill

yellow (adjective)

offensive a very offensive word used for describing the colour of the skin of people from some parts of Asia