Non-Color Words to Use When Describing Color

The words on this list do not denote color in and of themselves, but you can (and should) use them that way. They'll brighten your writing and make your descriptions more visually specific -- think apple green as opposed to bright green.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. olive
    small ovoid fruit of the European olive tree
  2. moss
    tiny leafy-stemmed flowerless plants
  3. fresh
    recently made, produced, or harvested
  4. apple
    a tree widely cultivated for its firm rounded edible fruits
  5. lime
    the green acidic fruit of any of various lime trees
  6. dragonfly
    slender-bodied non-stinging insect having iridescent wings that are outspread at rest; adults and nymphs feed on mosquitoes etc.
  7. hunter
    a person who searches for something
  8. evergreen
    a plant having foliage that persists and remains green throughout the year
  9. mint
    any member of the mint family of plants
  10. turquoise
    a shade of blue tinged with green
  11. alpine
    relating to or characteristic of high mountains
  12. teal
    a blue-green color or pigment
  13. peacock
    a male bird with a colorful fan-like tail
  14. harbor
    a sheltered port where ships can take on or discharge cargo
  15. antique
    made in or typical of earlier times and valued for its age
  16. pewter
    any of various alloys of tin with small amounts of other metals (especially lead)
  17. sky
    the atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth
  18. colonial
    relating to a body of people who settle far from home
  19. smoke
    a cloud of fine particles suspended in a gas
  20. sky
    the atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth
  21. velvet
    a silky densely piled fabric with a plain back
  22. lavender
    an aromatic shrub with usually mauve or blue flowers
  23. midnight
    12 o'clock at night; the middle of the night
  24. cyan
    a primary subtractive color for light
  25. raven
    a large black bird with a straight bill and long tail
  26. violet
    a small flower that is usually bluish-purple
  27. eggplant
    an egg-shaped vegetable that usually has a dark-purple color
  28. velvet
    a silky densely piled fabric with a plain back
  29. heliotrope
    green chalcedony with red spots that resemble blood
  30. peony
    any of numerous plants widely cultivated for their showy single or double red or pink or white flowers
  31. lilac
    any of various plants of the genus Syringa having large panicles of usually fragrant flowers
  32. pink
    any of various flowers of plants of the genus Dianthus cultivated for their fragrant flowers
  33. orchid
    any of numerous plants of the orchid family usually having flowers of unusual shapes and beautiful colors
  34. coral
    a very small ocean creature that often forms reefs
  35. plum
    any of several trees producing edible oval fruit having a smooth skin and a single hard stone
  36. ruby
    a transparent piece of ruby that has been cut and polished and is valued as a precious gem
  37. cranberry
    any of numerous shrubs of genus Vaccinium bearing cranberries
  38. lava
    rock that in its molten form issues from volcanos
  39. terra cotta
    clay fired for pottery and building material, or the finished object
  40. coral
    a very small ocean creature that often forms reefs
  41. chestnut
    a type of hardwood tree that yields edible nuts
  42. dune
    a ridge of sand created by the wind
  43. cocoa
    powder of ground roasted cacao beans with most of the fat removed
  44. orange
    any citrus tree bearing oranges
  45. stucco
    a plaster now made mostly from Portland cement and sand and lime; applied while soft to cover exterior walls or surfaces
  46. silver
    a soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal; occurs in argentite and in free form; used in coins and jewelry and tableware and photography
  47. apricot
    a yellow to rosy-colored fruit resembling a small peach
  48. parchment
    a superior paper resembling sheepskin
  49. marigold
    any of various tropical American plants of the genus Tagetes widely cultivated for their showy yellow or orange flowers
  50. bronze
    an alloy of copper and tin and sometimes other elements
  51. topaz
    a mineral in crystals of various colors used as a gemstone
  52. amber
    a hard yellowish to brownish translucent fossil resin
  53. canary
    any of several small Old World finches
  54. sunflower
    any plant of the genus Helianthus having large flower heads with dark disk florets and showy yellow rays
  55. copper
    a ductile malleable reddish-brown corrosion-resistant diamagnetic metallic element; occurs in various minerals but is the only metal that occurs abundantly in large masses; used as an electrical and thermal conductor
  56. gold
    a soft yellow malleable ductile metallic element
  57. cream
    the part of milk containing the butterfat
  58. eggshell
    the exterior covering of a bird's egg
  59. chiffon
    a sheer fabric of silk or rayon
  60. frost
    ice crystals forming a white deposit
  61. oyster
    marine mollusks having a rough irregular shell
Created on Wed Nov 19 10:05:30 EST 2014 (updated Wed Nov 19 11:14:12 EST 2014)

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