Language: en
Meaning: Of the wrong color.1936,Chemical Industries, volume38, page400:Careful control of mixing at the central point reduces the possibility ofoff-colorpaint in some booths, and uniform pressure at the spray guns is easily maintained.2000, John Kenkel,Chemistry: An Industry-Based Laboratory Manual, page74:Because of his reputable work withoff-colorand contaminated materials, I have asked Dr. Otto Speck of Colorama Consultants to give us some direction.2001,SPE/ANTEC 2001 Proceedings, page3391:After some amount of time elapses, the transition phase from color A to color B will yieldoff-colorproduct until the color change for color B is fully established in the system.; (idiomatic)Dirty,vulgarorobscene, especially in a way that isunpleasant.He told anoff-colorjoke.1996, James Lambert,The Macquarie Book of Slang, Sydney: Macquarie Library, page xii:[T]he equating of the female genitalia with a wound caused by an axe is a veryoff-colourmetaphor.2010, Charles Carver,Brann and the Iconoclast, page54:He seems to have crawled off the earth after his Texas itinerary, in company with the alleged ex-nun whom he was carting around the country to pander to the prurient appetites ofoff-colordames by relating naughty tales of desiring nuns and accommodating priests.2012, Gary L. Fanning,Things I Didn't Learn in Medical School:Overly risqué jokes and foul language are invitations to being charged with sexual abuse. I must admit to enjoying humor a great deal, and I am guilty of sharing all kinds of stories, some of which are slightlyoff-color, but far from lewd.; (idiomatic)Differentfromusual.2007, Kevin Courrier,Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica:Since Zappa treats subject matter, dialogue, and song as musical material,Permanent Damagehas a casualoff-colorquality.Permanent DamageandAn Evening with Wild Man Fischerwere works of oddball sociology as much as they were rock and roll records.2014, Anne W. Mhorelund,Broken Branch: The Patchie Creek Story, page691:Even the roadside sights seemed a littleoff-colorand was just beginning to lose some of its summer luster.2015, Kristi Charish,Owl and the Japanese Circus, page162:There was something funny about his eyes . . . somethingoff-colorand old . . . but he pulled the shades back down before I could get a good look.; (idiomatic)Feeling mildlyunwell.Synonym:under the weatherI feel a bitoff-colortoday.2009, Kalpana M. Naghnoor,Abstruse, page111:Nihal Sheshan, one of our officers, tells me our chief has been a littleoff-colorof late. Kind of disoriented sometimes.2010, Murray Stein,Jungian Psychoanalysis: Working in the Spirit of Carl Jung, page311:One evening she was feelingoff-colorwith a virus and was settled comfortably in the sitting-room.
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