# beige

Pronunciation: say "BAYZH" /ˈbeɪʒ/

## Noun

1. A pale yellowish-gray color, like that of unbleached wool.
   - Simple: A pale brownish color, like undyed wool or dry sand.
   - _The designer chose beige for the lobby to keep the space calm and neutral._
   - _Against the dark furniture, the beige of the curtains looked almost white._
4. A woolen or mixed fabric used as material for dresses, also known as debeige.
   - Simple: A kind of woolen cloth used for making dresses.
   - _The dressmaker preferred beige for its durability and soft, even weave._
   - _Bolts of beige lined the shelves of the old draper's shop._

## Adjective

2. Of a pale yellowish-gray color, like that of unbleached wool.
   - Simple: Having a pale brownish color, like sand or undyed wool.
   - _He repainted the office in a beige tone that felt warm but understated._
   - _The walls were beige, blending quietly with the wooden floors._
3. Dull and unadventurous in a comfortable way, suggesting ordinary middle-class suburban life. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Dull and safe in a boring way, like a very ordinary, quiet life.
   - _Critics dismissed the album as beige, pleasant and safe but instantly forgettable._
   - _He worried that settling down in the suburbs would make his life hopelessly beige._

## Origin

Beige is an unadapted borrowing from dialectal French beige, from Old French bege ("color of undyed wool or cotton"). This came from an Alpine language and from Vulgar Latin *bysseus ("cottony grey"), from Late Latin byssus ("cotton"), from Ancient Greek βύσσος (bússos, "cotton homespun"), ultimately from a Semitic source. It is a doublet of bice.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/beige (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).