red

1 of 3

adjective

ˈred

redder; reddest

: of the color red

a red rose

red tomatoes

I stopped at the red light.

: having red as a distinguishing color

He was captain of the red team.

a(1)

: flushed especially with anger or embarrassment

Her red face made clear that his remark was cruel.

(2)

: ruddy, florid

a healthy child with red cheeks

(3)

: being or having skin tinged with red due to inflammation

The wound was red and swollen.

Her skin was red from hours in the sun.

(4)

offensive : being or having skin of a coppery hue

: bloodshot

eyes red from crying

of hair, fur, etc. : being in the color range between a moderate orange and russet or bay

a red setter

a horse with a red coat

: tinged with red : reddish

a red sky/sunrise

red wine

red onions/potatoes

: heated to redness : glowing

red coals

: inciting or endorsing radical social or political change especially by force

often Red : communist

often Red : of or relating to a communist country and especially to the former Soviet Union

US politics : tending to support Republican candidates or policies

Some choices are easy. You're either a dog guy or a cat guy. Red state or blue.

Rick Reilly

compare blue sense 9, purple sense 3

red

2 of 3

noun

plural reds

: a color whose hue resembles that of blood or of the ruby or is that of the long-wave extreme of the visible spectrum

: red clothing

the lady in red

: one that is of a red or reddish color: such as

: red wine

: an animal with a red or reddish coat

: a pigment or dye that colors red

: a shade or tint of red

: one who advocates the violent overthrow of an existing social or political order

capitalized : communist

[from the bookkeeping practice of entering debit items in red ink] : the condition of showing a loss

—usually used with the

in the red

compare black sense 7

physics : one of the three colors (see color entry 1 sense 15) that quarks have in the theory of quantum chromodynamics

In QCD there is actually not just one type of quark, but three types or "colors" of quarks. These are sometimes denoted as "red," "blue," and "green" quarks …

Edward Witten

red

3 of 3

abbreviation

reduce; reduction

Phrases

red in tooth and claw

: characterized by or displaying brutal emotion or violent behavior

Example Sentences

Adjective a shiny red fire truck His face turns red when he gets angry. Noun The artist uses red to symbolize passion. a lady dressed in red the reds and oranges of autumn leaves

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Trump did endorse McCarthy earlier this month, but that occurred against the backdrop of a looming, if ultimately illusory, red wave.

Robert Schlesinger, The New Republic, 21 Nov. 2022 Without a red wave, the Bakersfield Republican now faces a narrow, fractious majority and a rocky road to the speakership.

Los Angeles Times, 21 Nov. 2022 Across the country, grassroots organizers mobilized Latinos, and the Democrats prized themselves for doing what the party has historically been projected to do: counter a red wave with a growing Black and brown electorate.

Paola Ramos, Vogue, 18 Nov. 2022 Despite having a narrow majority in the House, Republicans did not come close to fulfilling predictions that anticipated a red wave.

Rachel Looker, USA TODAY, 18 Nov. 2022 There was no red wave, and voters in aggregate seemed more exhausted than energized by both parties’ extreme fringes.

Marc Fisher, Anchorage Daily News, 17 Nov. 2022 Democrats nationally and locally celebrated the fact that an overwhelming red wave failed to materialize.

oregonlive, 17 Nov. 2022 Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post has been savaging former president Donald Trump since the midterms, blaming him for the red wave that never was, calling him a loser.

Globe Columnist, BostonGlobe.com, 16 Nov. 2022 After weeks of speculation of a Republican red wave, Democrats were the party that came out on top.

Julian Zelizer, CNN, 16 Nov. 2022

Noun

Incoming House members such as George Santos, who flipped a New York seat from blue to red, and John James, who won an open seat in a purple Michigan district, have signaled a willingness to work across the aisle.

Courtney Subramanianstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 30 Nov. 2022 After a race that was closer than many expected, Republicans have flipped Wisconsin’s battleground 3rd Congressional District from blue to red.

Lawrence Andrea, Journal Sentinel, 9 Nov. 2022 Charlie Crist is running against Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in the purple state that seems to be turning red.

Kristine Parks, Fox News, 8 Nov. 2022 Private economists, on average, forecast a 60% chance of a recession within a year, and one of the financial markets’ most reliable predictors of recession is flashing red.

Mario Parker, Mike Dorning And Bill Allison, Anchorage Daily News, 31 Oct. 2022 Private economists, on average, forecast a 60% chance of a recession within a year and one of the financial markets’ most reliable predictors of recession is flashing red.

Stephen Battaglio Los Angeles Times (tns), al, 31 Oct. 2022 At this point in life, several indicators—including blood pressure, depression, and mental health—begin flashing red.

Tristan Bove, Fortune, 14 Sep. 2022 Unless the Republicans nominate Donald Trump or an extreme conspiracist, this blue-leaning unaffiliated voter will be turning red.

WSJ, 2 Sep. 2022 As yet, neither of these indicators is flashing red.

John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 22 June 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'red.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English red, rede, reed, going back to Old English rēad, going back to Germanic *rauđa- (whence also Old Frisian rād, rōd "red, yellow," Old Saxon rōd "red," Middle Dutch root, rood, Old High German rōt, Old Norse rauðr, Gothic rauþs), going back to Indo-European *h₁rou̯dh-o-, whence also Old Irish rúad "reddish brown, dark red," Welsh rhudd "red, tawny," Latin rūfus (from a dialect or another Italic language, with -f- for expected -b-), Lithuanian raũdas "red-brown, reddish," Russian dialect rúdyj "blood-red," Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian rûd "reddish brown"; from a suffixed zero-grade form *h₁rudh-ro-, Old Norse roðra "blood," Latin ruber "red," Tocharian B ratre, Greek erythrós, Sanskrit rudhiráḥ "red, bloody"

Note: The Modern English form reflects shortening of Middle English ę̄ (long open e), found in other monosyllabic words ending in a voiced dental stop (compare dead entry 1, head entry 1, shred entry 1); as with shred, this change took place early enough to be reflected in early Modern English spelling (unlike dead and head). The surnames Read, Reade, etc., may preserve the long vowel.

Noun

Middle English red, reed, derivative of red, reed red entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of red was before the 12th century

See more words from the same century

Phrases Containing red

Articles Related to red

a row of colored pencils on a blue background

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Name That Color

Can you tell chartreuse from vermilion?

17 Red, White, and Blue Political Terms

Red tape, blue laws, and more

Cite this Entry

Style

“Red.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/red. Accessed 7 Dec. 2022.

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Kids Definition

red

1 of 2 adjective

ˈred

redder; reddest

: of the color red

: flushed especially with anger or embarrassment

: bloodshot

eyes red from weeping

: openly supporting sweeping social or political change especially by force

: encouraging, aiding, or furthering Communism : communist

: of or relating to the U.S.S.R. or a Communist country

redly adverb

redness noun

red

2 of 2 noun

: a color like that of blood or a ruby

: one that is of a red color

: a dye that colors red

: a person who seeks the overthrow of a social or political order : revolutionary

often capitalized : communist

: the condition of showing a loss

in the red

Medical Definition

red

1 of 2 adjective

ˈred

redder; reddest

: of the color red

red

2 of 2 noun

: a color whose hue resembles that of blood or of the ruby or is that of the long-wave extreme of the visible spectrum

: a pigment or dye that colors red see congo red, neutral red, vital red

Geographical Definition

Red

geographical name

ˈred

river 1018 miles (1638 kilometers) long flowing east on the Oklahoma–Texas boundary and into the Atchafalaya and Mississippi rivers in Louisiana

river in north central U.S. and south central Canada flowing north on the Minnesota–North Dakota boundary and into Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba

see arctic red

or Hong

ˈhȯŋ

or (in China) Yuan

yu̇-ˈän

-ˈan

river 500 miles (805 kilometers) long in southeastern Asia rising in central Yunnan, China, and flowing southeast across northern Vietnam into the Gulf of Tonkin