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List of Popular Color Idioms with Meaning & Examples in English

List of Popular Color Idioms with Meaning & Examples in English

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A lot of English idioms use colors to describe feelings. Below are common color idioms in English.

Color Idioms

List of Idioms about Color

  • To see red 
  • Green with envy
  • To feel blue
  • Yellow-bellied
  • Tickled pink
  • Golden opportunity
  • Black sheep
  • Beet red
  • Black out

Idioms List with Meaning & Examples

To see red 

  • Meaning: Very angry
  • Example: Sarah was seeing red when her computer suddenly crashed.

We probably use red to describe anger because people’s faces turn red when they are angry. Imagine you became so angry your eyes became red, too. Then you might begin to “see red.”

Green with envy

  • Meaning: Wanting something someone else has
  • Example: When John brought home his expensive car, his neighbor Tom was green with envy.

I’m not sure why people are green when they are envious, but this is a very common saying.

To feel blue

  • Meaning: Sad
  • Example: After Julian’s boyfriend left her, she felt blue and cried all the time.

You can also “be blue.”

Yellow-bellied

  • Meaning: Coward, not brave
  • Example: He was a yellow-bellied cowboy. He always ran away from a fight.

Belly means stomach. If your belly is yellow, you are not brave. This idiom isn’t used as much nowadays as it was in the past.

Tickled pink

  • Meaning: Very happy
  • Example: David asked Mary to marry him. He was tickled pink when she said yes.

When someone is tickled, he feels very excited and happy. Perhaps your skin becomes pink when you feel happy.

Golden opportunity

  • Meaning: The perfect chance
  • Example: Instead, it is underedited and overpriced: the publishers missed a golden opportunity.

Black sheep

  • Meaning: A person who is a disgrace to a family or group
  • Example: John is the black sheep in our family. He almost ended up in jail a few times when we were younger.

Beet red

  • Meaning: dark red (usually to describe face)
  • Example: Anna went beet red when her crush came up and talked to her.

Black out

  • Meaning: faint
  • Example: You have to black out all the windows to develop films.

Common Color Idioms | Image

Color Idioms

YENNY

Thursday 27th of May 2021

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