ochre

American  

[oh-ker] / ˈoʊ kər /

noun

ochred, ochring

1. ocher.

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ochre British  

/ ˈəʊkərɪ, ˈəʊkrɪəs, ˈəʊkrəs, ˈəʊkrɔɪd, ˈəʊkə, ˈəʊkərəs, ˈəʊkrɪ /

noun

1. any of various natural earths containing ferric oxide, silica, and alumina: used as yellow or red pigments

2. 1. a moderate yellow-orange to orange colour

   2. ( as adjective )

      an ochre dress

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verb

1. (tr) to colour with ochre

Other Word Forms

• ochreous adjective
• ochroid adjective
• ochrous adjective
• ochry adjective

Etymology

Origin of ochre

C15: from Old French ocre, from Latin ōchra, from Greek ōkhra, from ōkhros pale yellow

Example Sentences

Objects placed alongside the dead, including stone tools, animal bones, and pieces of ochre, may also hint at early beliefs about an afterlife.

From Science Daily • Apr. 12, 2026

Vine, having been knocked down, used a team-mate's bike to claim the overall winner's ochre jersey by one minute three seconds for UAE Team Emirates-XRG.

From BBC • Jan. 25, 2026

New Zealand's Ally Wollaston reeled in defending champion Noemi Ruegg with a blistering finish for back-to-back stage wins and hold on to her ochre leader's jersey in the Tour Down Under in Adelaide on Sunday.

From Barron's • Jan. 18, 2026

Throughout his career, Lowry favored mostly five colors: ochre, blue, black, white and red.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025

Around them, the trees had started to turn, ochre and orange, scarlet red.

From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini