Definition of Off-color

1. Adjective. In violation of good taste even verging on the indecent. "An off-color joke"

Exact synonyms: Indelicate, Off-colour
Similar to: Tasteless

2. Adjective. Humorously vulgar. "Ribald language"
Exact synonyms: Bawdy, Ribald
Similar to: Dirty
Derivative terms: Bawd, Bawdiness, Bawdy, Ribald

Definition of Off-color

1. Adjective. (idiomatic) dirty, vulgar or obscene ¹

2. Adjective. (idiomatic) different than usual ¹

3. Adjective. (idiomatic) in poor health ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Off-color

off(p)
off-
off-Broadway
off-and-on(a)
off-axis reflector
off-base
off-bear
off-book
off-brand
off-campus
off-center
off-centered
off-centre
off-chance
off-color (current term)
off-colour
off-come
off-corn
off-day
off-duty
off-duty(a)
off-field
off-flow
off-gas
off-gases
off-guard
off-guard(a)
off-hand
off-handed

Literary usage of Off-color

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Metallurgy of Lead by Henrich Oscar Hofman (1918)
"Galena alone can be smelted with coke, but furnace- troubles are likely to occur, and off-color pigment may be formed. In smelting sintered blue fume alone ..."

2. The Winston Simplified Dictionary: Including All the Words in Common Use by William Dodge Lewis, Edgar Arthur Singer (1919)
"ad), not of a natural On-COl-Or or satisfactory color; as, the Jewel Is off-color; colloquially, slightly improper or indecent; as, an off-color remark. nf ..."

3. An American Glossary by Richard Hopwood Thornton (1912)
"Off Color. Out of sorts. a. 1870 "The Kernel seems a little off color today," said the barkeeper.—F. Bret Harte, ' A Ward of Col. Starbottle's.' Ofl oX. ..."

4. Dwarf Mistletoes: Biology, Pathology, and Systematics by Frank G. Hawksworth, Delbert Wiens (1998)
"This system rates trees as most vigorous (class A: crown dense, full, of good color, and pointed) to least vigorous (class D: crown thin, open, off-color, ..."

5. Electric Railway Transportation by Henry William Blake, Walter Jackson (1917)
"Another company (Sheboygan) in 1907 printed a number of strip tickets slightly different in color from the regular supply, and these off-color strips were ..."

6. Electric Railway Transportation by Henry William Blake, Walter Jackson (1917)
"Another company (Sheboygan) in 1907 printed a number of strip tickets slightly different in color from the regular supply, and these off-color strips were ..."

7. Electric Railway Transportation by Henry William Blake, Walter Jackson (1917)
"Another company (Sheboygan) in 1907 printed a number of strip tickets slightly different in color from the regular supply, and these off-color strips were ..."

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