off-color

comparative more off-color · superlative most off-color · alternative off-colour

1. Of the wrong color.

   Because of his reputable work with off-color and contaminated materials, I have asked Dr. Otto Speck of Colorama Consultants to give us some direction.

   2000, John Kenkel, Chemistry: An Industry-Based Laboratory Manual, page 74

   2 more examples

   Careful control of mixing at the central point reduces the possibility of off-color paint in some booths, and uniform pressure at the spray guns is easily maintained.

   1936, Chemical Industries, volume 38, page 400

   After some amount of time elapses, the transition phase from color A to color B will yield off-color product until the color change for color B is fully established in the system.

   2001, SPE/ANTEC 2001 Proceedings, page 3391

2. idiomaticDirty, vulgar or obscene, especially in a way that is unpleasant.

   He told an off-color joke.

   3 more examples

   [T]he equating of the female genitalia with a wound caused by an axe is a very off-colour metaphor.

   1996, James Lambert, The Macquarie Book of Slang, Sydney: Macquarie Library, page xii

   He seems to have crawled off the earth after his Texas itinerary, in company with the alleged ex-nun whom he was carting around the country to pander to the prurient appetites of off-color dames by relating naughty tales of desiring nuns and accommodating priests.

   2010, Charles Carver, Brann and the Iconoclast, page 54

   Overly risqué jokes and foul language are invitations to being charged with sexual abuse. I must admit to enjoying humor a great deal, and I am guilty of sharing all kinds of stories, some of which are slightly off-color, but far from lewd.

   2012, Gary L. Fanning, Things I Didn't Learn in Medical School

3. idiomaticDifferent from usual.

   Even the roadside sights seemed a little off-color and was just beginning to lose some of its summer luster.

   2014, Anne W. Mhorelund, Broken Branch: The Patchie Creek Story, page 691

   2 more examples

   Since Zappa treats subject matter, dialogue, and song as musical material, Permanent Damage has a casual off-color quality. Permanent Damage and An Evening with Wild Man Fischer were works of oddball sociology as much as they were rock and roll records.

   2007, Kevin Courrier, Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica

   There was something funny about his eyes . . . something off-color and old . . . but he pulled the shades back down before I could get a good look.

   2015, Kristi Charish, Owl and the Japanese Circus, page 162

4. idiomaticFeeling mildly unwell.

   I feel a bit off-color today.

   2 more examples

   Nihal Sheshan, one of our officers, tells me our chief has been a little off-color of late. Kind of disoriented sometimes.

   2009, Kalpana M. Naghnoor, Abstruse, page 111

   One evening she was feeling off-color with a virus and was settled comfortably in the sitting-room.

   2010, Murray Stein, Jungian Psychoanalysis: Working in the Spirit of Carl Jung, page 311

   Synonyms: under the weather