Wiktionary

colorism

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From color +‎ -ism.

Noun

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colorism (usually uncountable, plural colorisms)

  1. (American spelling) Prejudice or bias against persons on the basis of their skin color or complexion, often among persons of the same racial identification.
    • 2011, Don Lemon, Transparent‎[1], Las Vegas: Farrah Gray, →ISBN:
      Black America used to be, and perhaps still is, a pigmentocracy, which means that the social hierarchy is based largely on colorism.
    • 2019, Alicia Williams, “2019 Kirkus Prize Finalists: Alicia D. Williams on Writing Genesis Begins Again”, in Kirkus Reviews‎[2], retrieved 2021-04-15:
      This type of preferential colorism isn’t only found in the church aisles, it’s at family gatherings, on the dating scene, in the classroom, on the playground—it’s everywhere.
    • 2019 April 18, Pariha Laila Begum, quotee, “Shades of Black: how readers responded to our series on the colorism taboo”, in The Guardian‎[3]:
      Colorism from your own people feels worse than racism – at the very least your own family and people should welcome you, no?
    • 2020 July 29, E. Tammy Kim, “The Perils of “People of Color””, in The New Yorker‎[4]:
      Eliminating racism and colorism is, of course, a worthy pursuit, but it’s also impossible to do in the abstract.
    • 2021 March 15, Kovie Biakolo, “The Bachelor’s “Groundbreaking” Season Was a Representation Nightmare”, in Vanity Fair‎[5]:
      Like those, James’s season still gave noticeably less screen time to its Black contestants—and because of James’s Blackness, the colorism that has always plagued The Bachelor became more visible.
    • 2023, Radhika Iyengar, Fire on the Ganges, Fourth Estate, page 166:
      Like many other parts of the world, colourism is rampant in India.
  2. (painting) A style of painting characterised by the use of intense color.
    • 2002, Robert Suckale, edited by Ingo F. Walther, Masterpieces of Western Art, Taschen, →ISBN, page 419:
      Turner's colorism with its cosmic world view had nothing to do with realism, in spite of its impasto handling of colour. […] Turner's images are based on the far-sighted and purely objective views of the 18th century which he imbued with new meaning through his colorism based on colour theory and plein-air painting.

Translations

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from German Kolorismus.

Noun

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colorism n (uncountable)

  1. colorism

Declension

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singular only indefinite definite
nominative-accusative colorism colorismul
genitive-dative colorism colorismului
vocative colorismule
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