beige

B3E1I1G2E1
US, UK/ˈbeɪʒ/US, UK/ˈbeɪd͡ʒ/British, Southern, Standard/ˈbɛjʒ/British, Southern, Standard/ˈbɛjd͡ʒ/

noun

A colour, variously defined from a pale brown, to a yellow greyish off-white.

CommonScrabble 8

Meanings

nounbeige (countable and uncountable, plural beiges)

plural beiges

  1. countableuncountableA colour, variously defined from a pale brown, to a yellow greyish off-white.
  2. countableuncountableDebeige; a kind of woollen or mixed dress goods.
adjectivebeige (comparative beiger or more beige, superlative beigest or most beige)

comparative beiger · comparative more beige · superlative beigest · superlative most beige

  1. Having a slightly yellowish gray colour, as that of unbleached wool.

    Dagobert had only one customer, an American who wore square, rimless glasses and a beige suit and looked like a Wall Street tycoon.

    1956, Delano Ames, chapter 24, in Crime out of Mind
    1 more example

    Mr. Lauwaert of Sony said he realized that most consumers were not going to buy computers that cost far more than discount beige boxes.

    2006 November 23, Michel Marriott, “When Beige Won’t Do”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

    Synonyms: bland, indistinct, colorless, drab

  2. informalComfortably dull and unadventurous, in a way that suggests middle-class suburbia.

    He has no criminal record. He has no traffic tickets. His social media posts are just like... he's beige.

    2016, Penelope Garcia, “The Witness”, in Criminal Minds, season 11, episode 2
    3 more examples

    Think about it: he grew up in Iowa, the beigest of states, was doted on, loved generously by his parents, the top of his class, probably voted Most Handsome of 2000.

    2007, Prairie L. Markussen, Cover, page 48

    In the beigest parts of suburbia where I grew up, bridge was a game played by groups of parents in recreation rooms furnished with upright pianos and souvenir sombreros.

    2010, Gerald J. McCarthy, A Man of Substances

    For a meal of relentlessly beige food, may I suggest the beigest of wines? That would be chardonnay, which will go beautifully with Melissa Clark’s chicken potpie.

    2013 March 25, Eric Asimov, “A Beige Wine for a Beige Meal”, in NYT Diner’s Journal Blog

    Synonyms: bland, tedious

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveHaving a slightly yellowish gray colour, as that of unbleached wool.

adjectiveComfortably dull and unadventurous, in a way that suggests middle-class suburbia.

More synonyms by meaning

adjectiveof a light greyish-brown color

Similar

nouna very light brown

Similar
Broader
light brown
Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Semitic
  2. Ancient Greekβύσσος“cotton homespun”
  3. Late Latinbyssus“cotton”
  4. Vulgar Latin*bysseus“cottony grey”
  5. Old Frenchbege“color of undyed wool or cotton”
  6. French(dialectal) beige
  7. Englishbeige

Unadapted borrowing from French (dialectal) beige, from Old French bege (“color of undyed wool or cotton”), from an Alpine language (compare Franco-Provençal bézho, Romansch besch (“dull grey”)), from Vulgar Latin *bysseus (“cottony grey”) (compare French bis, Catalan bis, Italian bigio), from Late Latin byssus (“cotton”), from Ancient Greek βύσσος (bússos, “cotton homespun”), from Semitic (compare Hebrew/Aramaic בוץ (būṣ)). Doublet of bice.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans beige, beige
  • beigecolour
  • beigehaving a slightly yellowish gray colour
Arabic بِيج, بِيج
  • بِيج (bīj)colour
  • بِيج (bīj)having a slightly yellowish gray colour
Bengali বেইজ
  • বেইজ (beij)colour
Bulgarian бежов цвят, бе́жов
  • бежов цвят (bežov cvjat)colour
  • бе́жов (béžov)colour
  • беж (bež)colour
  • бе́жов (béžov)having a slightly yellowish gray colour
Catalan beix, beix
  • beixcolour
  • beixhaving a slightly yellowish gray colour
Chinese Mandarin 米黃 /米黄, 米色
  • 米黃 /米黄 (mǐhuáng)colour
  • 米色 (mǐsè)colour
  • 米黃 /米黄 (mǐhuáng)having a slightly yellowish gray colour
  • 米色 (mǐsè)having a slightly yellowish gray colour
Czech béžový, béžový
  • béžovýcolour
  • béžovýhaving a slightly yellowish gray colour
Danish beige
  • beigecolour
Dutch beige
  • beigecolour
Esperanto flavgriza, beĵa
  • flavgrizacolour
  • beĵacolour
Estonian beež
  • beežcolour
Finnish beesi, beige
  • beesicolour
  • beigecolour
  • beesihaving a slightly yellowish gray colour
French beige, beige
  • beigecolour
  • beigehaving a slightly yellowish gray colour
German Beige, beige
  • Beigecolour
  • beigehaving a slightly yellowish gray colour
Greek μπεζ
  • μπεζ (bez)colour
Hebrew בֵּז׳
  • בֵּז׳ (bezh)colour
Hindi बेज, बेझ़
  • बेज (bej)colour
  • बेझ़ (beź)colour
Hungarian bézs, bézs
  • bézscolour
  • bézshaving a slightly yellowish gray colour
Icelandic ljósbrúnn, grábrúnn
  • ljósbrúnncolour
  • grábrúnncolour
  • drappaðurcolour
Indonesian krem, putih kuam
  • kremcolour
  • putih kuamcolour
Irish béas, béasa
  • béascolour
  • béasahaving a slightly yellowish gray colour
Italian bigio, fulvo
  • bigiocolour
  • fulvocolour
  • lionatocolour
  • beigecolour
  • bigiohaving a slightly yellowish gray colour
Japanese ベージュ, ベージュ
  • ベージュ (bēju)colour
  • ベージュ (bēju)having a slightly yellowish gray colour
Korean 베이지, 베이지색
  • 베이지 (beiji)colour
  • 베이지색 (beijisaek)colour
  • 베이지색 (beijisaek)having a slightly yellowish gray colour
  • 베이지 (beiji)having a slightly yellowish gray colour
Latin cēreus, cēreus
  • cēreuscolour
  • cēreushaving a slightly yellowish gray colour
Malay krim, kuning air
  • krimcolour
  • kuning aircolour
  • kuning airhaving a slightly yellowish gray colour
Māori kirīmi
  • kirīmicolour
Persian بژ
  • بژ (bež)colour
Polish beżowy, beżowy
  • beżowycolour
  • beżowyhaving a slightly yellowish gray colour
  • beżhaving a slightly yellowish gray colour
Portuguese bege, bege
  • begecolour
  • begehaving a slightly yellowish gray colour
Romanian bej, bej
  • bejcolour
  • bejhaving a slightly yellowish gray colour
Russian беж, бе́жевый
  • беж (bež)colour
  • бе́жевый (béževyj)colour
  • бе́жевый (béževyj)having a slightly yellowish gray colour
Slovak béžový
  • béžovýcolour
Spanish beis, beige (beish)
  • beiscolour
  • beige (beish)colour
  • beishaving a slightly yellowish gray colour
  • beige (beish)having a slightly yellowish gray colour
Swedish beige
  • beigecolour
Tagalog murang kayumanggi
  • murang kayumanggicolour
Turkish bej
  • bejcolour
Ukrainian беж, бе́жевий
  • беж (bež)colour
  • бе́жевий (béževyj)colour
Vietnamese be, màu be
  • becolour
  • màu becolour
Welsh lliw gwlanen, llwydfelyn
  • lliw gwlanencolour
  • llwydfelyncolour
  • lliw gwlanenhaving a slightly yellowish gray colour
  • llwydfelynhaving a slightly yellowish gray colour

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with beige

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

beige. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beige

MLA

“beige.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beige. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “beige,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beige.

Source: beige on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.