red

/rɛd/

/rɛd/

Other forms: redder; reds; reddest; redded

The color red is a primary hue found at the end of the spectrum. You might turn red with embarrassment. It also represents financial loss, as in the term "red ink."

The word red goes back to before 900, and we can see its roots in the Old English rēad. The idea of red as a signal to stop came in 1849. The color has been associated with rebellion as far back as the 13th Century, and in 1917, the Russian Bolsheviks adopted the color as their symbol. When the movement became the political party of Communism, the members became known as "Reds."

Definitions of red

1. noun

   red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
   synonyms: redness

   types:

   sanguine

   a blood-red color

   chrome red

   a red pigment used in paints; basic lead chromate

   Turkey red, alizarine red

   a bright orange-red color produced in cotton cloth with alizarine dye

   cardinal, carmine

   a vivid red color between orange and purple in the color spectrum

   crimson, deep red, ruby

   a deep and vivid red color

   dark red

   a red color that reflects little light

   purplish red, purplish-red

   a red with a tinge of purple

   cerise, cherry, cherry red

   a red the color of ripe cherries

   orange red, scarlet, vermilion, vermillion

   a variable color that is vivid red but sometimes with an orange tinge

   burgundy

   a dark purplish-red to blackish-red color

   claret

   a dark purplish-red color

   oxblood red

   a dark brownish-red color

   wine, wine-colored, wine-coloured

   a red as dark as red wine

   magenta

   a primary subtractive color for light; a dark purple-red color; the dye for magenta was discovered in 1859, the year of the battle of Magenta

   fuchsia, fuschia

   a dark purplish-red color

   maroon

   a dark purplish-red to dark brownish-red color

   type of:

   chromatic color, chromatic colour, spectral color, spectral colour

   a color that has hue
2. adjective

   of the color between orange and purple in the color spectrum; resembling the color of blood or cherries or tomatoes or rubies
   synonyms: blood-red, carmine, cerise, cherry, cherry-red, crimson, reddish, ruby, ruby-red, ruddy, scarlet

   chromatic

   being, having, or characterized by hue
3. adjective

   (especially of the face) reddened or suffused with or as if with blood from emotion or exertion
   “turned red from exertion”

   “red-faced and violent”

   synonyms: crimson, flushed, red-faced, reddened

   colored, colorful, coloured

   having color or a certain color; sometimes used in combination
4. adjective

   characterized by violence or bloodshed
   “"convulsed with red rage"- Hudson Strode”

   synonyms: crimson, violent

   bloody

   having or covered with or accompanied by blood
5. noun

   emotionally charged terms used to refer to extreme radicals or revolutionaries
   synonyms: Bolshevik, Marxist, bolshie, bolshy

   type of:

   radical

   a person who has radical ideas or opinions
6. noun

   the amount by which the cost of a business exceeds its revenue
   “the company operated in the red last year”

   synonyms: loss, red ink

   types:

   paper loss

   an unrealized loss on an investment calculated by subtracting the current market price from the investor's cost

   squeeze

   a situation in which increased costs cannot be passed on to the customer

   type of:

   amount, amount of money, sum, sum of money

   a quantity of money