scarlet
Americannoun
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a bright-red color inclining toward orange.
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cloth or clothing of this color.
adjective
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of the color scarlet.
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flagrantly offensive.
Their sins were scarlet.
noun
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a vivid red colour, sometimes with an orange tinge
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cloth or clothing of this colour
adjective
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of the colour scarlet
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sinful or immoral, esp unchaste
Etymology
Origin of scarlet
1200–50; Middle English < Old French escarlate < Medieval Latin scarlata, scarletum, perhaps < Arabic saqirlāṭ, siqillāṭ < Medieval Greek sigillátos < Latin sigillātus decorated with patterns in relief; sigillate
Explanation
Use the adjective scarlet to describe things that are a deep, rich red color, like a robin's breast or a wild strawberry. Some things are such a vivid shade that red doesn't seem to be quite accurate — scarlet is the perfect word to use for them. Blood is scarlet, and so are rubies and ripe cherries and some brilliant red roses. You can also use scarlet as a noun, to talk about the color itself: "My favorite painter uses a lot of scarlet." In the mid-13th century, scarlet simply meant "rich cloth," which might have been the color scarlet or some other color entirely.
Vocabulary lists containing scarlet
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Her parents took her to Prince Charles Hospital, Merthyr Tydfil, but doctors initially thought she had scarlet fever or Strep A, and sent her home, according to her parents.
From BBC • Mar. 26, 2026
In the film, Huppert's countess character returns to life in a scarlet red funeral barge sailing into in the Seegrotte, an underground Viennese lake popular with tourists.
From Barron's • Feb. 18, 2026
Studies show that ʻiʻiwi, also known as the scarlet honeycreeper, face a mortality rate of about 90 percent if infected.
From Science Daily • Feb. 11, 2026
But Ana-Maria is no imperious popular princess—she’s nice to Lucia, responding with youthful awe when Lucia shyly shows her the scarlet lipstick that she got from her aunt in Paris.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 4, 2025
It’s large, and as I get closer I make out bits of scarlet, gold brocade, and black and white checks.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
