Colors

An Introduction to the Colors in Spanish

Learning how to describe the colors of things in Spanish is another essential step to having total confidence in your ability to make yourself understood. How, for example, are you going to tell a luggage handler at the airport which bag is yours if you don't know your colors? When out shopping, if a sales assistant asked which t-shirt you wanted, what would you say if you didn't know how to describe it to them? Or when you're buying fruit at the market, how on earth are you going to distinguish between red and green apples? So having established its importance in day-to-day life, here's an introduction to some of the words for colors in Spanish...

Amarillo: yellow
Anaranjado: orange
Azul: blue
Blanco: white
Gris: grey
Marrón: brown
Negro: black
Rojo: red
Rosado: pink
Verde: green
Morado: purple

More Advanced Colors in Spanish

Beyond that, though, there are obviously almost as many words for colors in Spanish as there are subtle variations of the colors themselves. While a little obscure perhaps for the beginner, the below list of slightly more unusual colors certainly contains some words that the more advanced student might want to throw in from time to time in class to impress their teacher!

Amaranthine: amaranthine/deep purple-red
Amarillo claro: primrose/pale yellow
Añil: indigo/deep blue-violet
Azafrán: saffron/orange-yellow
Azul celeste: azure/light or sky blue
Azul turquesa: turquoise/blue-green
Azul de ultramar: ultramarine/deep blue
Azul zafiro: sapphire
Bermejo: vermilion/bright red
Beige: beige/light creamy white-brown
Caqui: khaki/light brown/tan
Cardinal: cardinal/scarlet
Castaño rojizo: russet/reddish brown
Cerúleo: sky-blue
Granate: maroon/brownish crimson
Gris pizarra: slate
Leonado: tawny/brownish-yellow
Magenta: magenta/reddish purple
Malva: mauve/light bluish purple
Marrón claro: tan/tawny brown
Prieto: sable (old-fashioned word for black)
Sepia: light brown
Violeta: violet