colorist

1 of 2

noun

col·​or·​ist ˈkə-lə-rist 

-lər-ist

plural colorists

: one that colors or deals with color

colorist

2 of 2

adjective

: prejudiced against people with dark skin

specifically : showing favor to light-skinned people over those with darker skin within a racial or ethnic group

Over the weekend, Khloé Kardashian faced a particularly vicious bout of cyberbullying that might be among the most inappropriate yet, since commenters began leaving racist and colorist comments about her five-month-old daughter, True Thompson.

—Andrea Park

Examples of colorist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Read on for the best winter hair colors for 2024, and get ready to screenshot to show your colorist. —Bella Cacciatore, Glamour, 22 Oct. 2024

The juried awards–which recognize colorists in film, TV and other media–will be presented Nov. 17 during Camerimage in Toruń, Poland. —Carolyn Giardina, Variety, 17 Oct. 2024

Adjective

Back in 2021, a video surfaced of her and Too $hort chatting on Instagram Live, which led to him apologizing for his seemingly colorist stance. —Mya Abraham, VIBE.com, 30 Sep. 2024

The 'Daisy Jones and the Six' star is maintaining her new hue throughout awards season with the help of colorist Tracey Cunningham (and a lot of Olaplex!) Riley Keough can't help falling in love with being a brunette. —Brittany Talarico, Peoplemag, 11 Jan. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from French coloriste, from Latin color color entry 1 + French -iste -ist entry 1

Adjective

color entry 1 + -ist entry 2 (after racist entry 1, sexist, etc.)

First Known Use

Noun

1685, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1990, in the meaning defined above