Color Idioms List with Meanings, Examples, & PDFs

Download ESL Books + Free PDFs

Order your books on Amazon!

English Grammar Courses Online

4.7 star rating on Udemy

Download the Color Idioms List & PDF Worksheets

Color Idioms PDF

View the updated web-version of the color idioms list in the table below.

The idiom worksheets and games are also free to download.

Download and print the PDFs.
Use the materials for interactive learning activities in class.
Students can also complete the worksheets to review or for self-study.

Color Idiom Worksheets for ESL Students

Worksheet A: Defining Idioms & Writing Sentences with Idioms

Worksheet B: Reading Idioms in Context & Describing Meanings

Fun Color Idiom Games for the Classroom

Color Idioms Crossword

Color Idioms BINGO

Color Idioms Checklist (for BINGO)

39 Idioms and Phrases About Colors

*Updated: March 2020

Idiom / Phrase	Meaning	Example Sentence

Idiom / Phrase	Meaning	Example Sentence
as white as a sheet	very fearful or anxious	Walter went as white as a sheet when he saw Hank get shot.
beet red	embarrassed or angry	Darren went beet red when he saw the scratch on his car.
black and blue	hurt physically or mentally	Both during and after the relationship, I felt so black and blue.
black and white	absolute terms	The contract that you signed is in black and white. You must agree to the terms.
black hole	some place or situation in which things are lost	Never take hard drugs. It's a black hole you can't escape from.
black market	illegal marketplace	A lot of fake cigarettes are sold in the black market.
black out	lose consciousness	She knocked her head on the floor and blacked out!
black sheep	unaccepted group member	Tom was the black sheep of the family and preferred to do things on his own.
black tie event	formal event	Most big award's ceremonies are black tie events.
blue-collar	manual labor	He got a blue-collar job working as a mechanic.
born with a silver spoon	from a rich family	Sara was born with a silver spoon, but she became a drug addict.
every cloud has a silver lining	be optimistic	She got fired but found a better job she. Every cloud has a silver lining.
feel blue	feel sad	Barbara felt blue after breaking up with her boyfriend.
give the green light	give permission	She gave her son the green light to join the police academy.
golden opportunity	a good chance for achievement	He had a golden opportunity to win the game on the penalty shot.
grass is always greener on the other side	others always have it better	Whenever she complains about her hometown, I remind her that the grass is always greener on the other side.
green thumb	talent for gardening	Your flowers live so long because of your green thumb.
grey area	vague or unclear	The store's return policy is such a grey area. I don't understand their rules.
in the black	profitable	Facebook has been in the black ever since the company went public.
on a silver platter	whole-heatedly or easily	He was offered the new job on a silver platter, but he didn't take it.
once in a blue moon	rarely	The truck driver visits his kids once in a blue moon.
out of the blue	suddenly	Her ex-boyfriend called her out of the blue during her honeymoon.
paint the town red	have fun	It's finally the weekend! Let's paint the town red!
pitch black	very dark	You should always sleep in a room that is pitch black.
pot calling the kettle black	to hypocritically criticize	Donald says the news is fake but that's like the pot calling the kettle black.
raise a white flag	surrender	I decided to raise a white flag and stop arguing with my wife.
red herring	something that draws attention away from an important topic	The President's gambling addiction was just a red herring for the pipeline problems.
red tape	rules which hinder progress	There is a lot of red tape involved with starting a business.
red-letter day	an important day	My graduation was a red-letter day for my parents.
roll out the red carpet	greet someone with great respect	They rolled out the red carpet during the President's inauguration.
see red	to be enraged	Bobby saw red when his brother broke his phone.
silver screen	the movie industry	Angelina always wanted to star on the silver screen.
talk a blue streak	talk a lot	Women who are close friends can talk a blue streak on the phone.
true colors	actual character or personality	I saw her true colors when she donated to the local charity.
white collar	office labor	Most white-collar workers don't get much sunshine.
white elephant	useless possession	My old DVD player is a white elephant. I only watch Netflix now.
white lie	a harmless lie	She told her boss a white lie when she said she had a doctor's appointment.
white-collar	office labor	Most white-collar workers don't get much sunshine.
yellow-bellied	cowardly	Don't be so yellow-bellied. It's only a small spider!

Showing 1 to 39 of 39 entries

Extra Examples of Color Idioms in Use

Do you want to read more examples and sentences with color idioms?

Try entering the expressions in a corpus database or language app.

We highly recommend the following corpus resources and tools:

Watch on YouTube: Color Idioms and Expressions in English

View more Idioms and Phrases on ESL Expat

View the complete list of English idioms and phrases.