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scarlet

noun · adjective · verb

Simple meaning

A bright, vivid red color.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

skahrluht

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈskɑɹlət

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A bright, vivid red color.

  2. A variable color that is vivid red but sometimes with an orange tinge

  3. A brilliant red colour sometimes tinged with orange.

  4. Cloth of a scarlet color.

adjective

  1. Of a bright red colour.

  2. Sinful or whorish.

  3. ireland

    Blushing; embarrassed or mortified.

verb

  1. transitive

    To dye or tinge (something) with scarlet.

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: a bright, vivid red color.

Used this way, scarlet is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • orange red , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use scarlet

  • “She wore a beautiful scarlet red dress to the party.”noun

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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: bright or vivid red color

orange redRare

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.