Colour Idioms

There's too much red tape.

Here are some common idioms based on colour and colours. Each entry includes the meaning of the idiom and shows the idiom in context in an example sentence. You can also try our colour idioms quiz to check your understanding, and listen to the Colour Idioms Song.

idiom	meaning	example sentence
beet red	dark red (usually to describe face)	My sister's face turned beet red when I caught her singing in front of a mirror.
black and blue	bruised and beaten	We found the poor guy black and blue near the train tracks.
black and white	straight forward, very clear	The rules we gave the kids were black and white. No answering the phone or the door.
black out	faint	I always black out at the sight of blood.
black sheep	the odd or bad member of the group	My oldest brother was the black sheep in our family. He dropped out of school at fifteen.
born with a silver spoon in one's mouth	born into a rich family	Keiko hasn't worked a day in her life. She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth.
catch red handed	catch someone in the act of doing something wrong or illegal	The kids were caught red handed stealing chocolate bars.
golden opportunity	the perfect chance	The models' conference was a golden opportunity for me to sell my beauty products.
grey area, gray area	something without a clear rule or answer	Writing personal email in the office is a grey area that needs to be discussed at the next meeting.
the green light	permission	The builders were given the green light to begin the tower.
green with envy	very jealous	I am green with envy over Julio's new wardrobe.
(have a) green thumb	be skillful in the garden	You can tell by her flower garden that Sheila has a green thumb.
have the blues	be sad or depressed	I always have the blues during the winter time.
in the dark	unaware	Antoine left his wife in the dark about their honeymoon destination until they got to the airport.
in the red	in debt	When we were in the red we almost had to sell the house.
once in a blue moon	very rarely	We only go out for dinner once in a blue moon.
out of the blue	unexpectedly	I got a phone call from a long lost cousin out of the blue last week.
red tape	official or bureaucratic tasks	There is still some red tape to deal with in terms of the inheritance.
red eye	an airplane flight that takes off after midnight	I caught the red eye so that I would see the sunrise over the mountains.
roll out the red carpet	treat someone like royalty	When relatives come to town my grandmother rolls out the red carpet.
rose coloured glasses	unrealistic view	Paula imagines Hollywood with rose coloured glasses.
see red	be very angry	I saw red when that guy grabbed my sister's purse.
tickled pink	very pleased and appreciative	My mom was tickled pink when my father brought roses home for her.
true colours	real self	Suzanne doesn't show her true colours when we have guests over.
white lie	an innocent lie to protect another person's feelings	We told Grandma that her cake was delicious, which was actually a white lie.
with flying colours	with distinction	I passed my road test with flying colours.